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Results of Serbian parliamentary polls delayed

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The results of the Serbian parliamentary elections held at the weekend will not be announced until a revote is held at one of the polling stations following breaches in voting procedures, local media said Tuesday.
BELGRADE, May 13 (RIA Novosti) - The results of the Serbian parliamentary elections held at the weekend will not be announced until a revote is held at one of the polling stations following breaches in voting procedures, local media said Tuesday.

In Sunday's elections Serbia's pro-Western Democrat Party took the lead winning 102 seats in the 250-seat parliament, with Tomislav Nikolic's Radical Party garnering 78 seats. The results meant that Tadic's party failed to win an outright majority required to push through his pro-Western policies and move closer to EU membership.

According to Serbian law the election results should be announced on May 15 or sooner, but as a result of the revote, which needs to be organized within seven days with another four days allowed to count ballots, the official results could be delayed until May 26.

The revote is unlikely to change the final result, however, as only 812 voters are registered at the polling station where the breaches were recorded.

Nikolic's nationalist party is expected to join forces with outgoing prime minister Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party with 30 seats, which will leave both pro-Western Tadic and Nikolic chasing coalitions with the Socialists and Liberals to try and get the necessary 126 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.

The elections followed the collapse of Serbia's government early in March when nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica refused to govern alongside President Tadic's Democratic Party, which continued to pursue controversial EU membership, despite EU recognition of Kosovo's independence.

Kosovo, with a 90% ethnic-Albanian majority, has been formally recognized as a sovereign state by over 35 countries including the U.S. and most EU members since it proclaimed its independence from Serbia on February 17.

Russia, Serbia's long-time ally and a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, has refused to recognize Kosovo's independence.

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