The dominance of state and party leader Aleksandar Vučic in Serbia continues, but is no longer unchallenged, at least in Belgrade, and is declining overall.

This is a key conclusion to draw from Sunday's combined Serbian presidential, parliamentary and local elections.

In the presidential election, incumbent Vučic, who had already appeared relaxed and confident of victory in a small circle at the beginning of February, was able to secure another mandate with a clear lead.

According to preliminary results that have not yet been officially confirmed, he received around 59 percent of the votes cast.

Michael Martens

Correspondent for Southeast European countries based in Vienna.

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His most important challenger, the former Serbian chief of staff Zdravko Ponoš, who was supported by several opposition parties, was not able to achieve much more than a respectable victory with around 17.5 percent.

It is uncertain whether he will be able to establish himself as an independent political actor in the medium term.

Vučic's victory in the presidential election was widely expected.

The only open question was whether Ponoš could succeed in forcing the incumbent into a runoff election.

This would have been the case if Vučic, who campaigned as usual on state resources and the docile reporting of the country's relevant mass media, had received less than 50 percent of the vote in the first round.

Since mid-February, however, it has looked less and less as if the opposition would be able to achieve such a partial success.

Russia's war against Ukraine seems to have given the head of state, who is already leading in all the polls, an additional advantage.

The uncertainty was not conducive to a mood of change.

The president's campaign team seized on the general uncertainty in the form of a quickly redesigned campaign slogan: "Peace.

Stability.

Aleksandar Vučic" was now on the posters.

Vučic can choose partners

In the parliamentary elections, which Vučic had brought forward for tactical reasons, as on previous occasions, the President's "Serbian Progressive Party" (SNS) was the strongest party by a clear margin.

However, their dominance in the future parliament will not be as strong as before because, unlike in 2020, the opposition did not boycott the vote this time in protest against the unfair political competitive conditions.

According to preliminary results, the SNS received around 43 percent of the votes on Sunday and will no longer have an absolute majority of seats as before.

However, she has several partners with whom she can continue to dominate the government.

Vučic himself named the largest party of the Hungarian minority in the northern province of Vojvodina, which is expected to be able to send six MPs to Belgrade, as a potential coalition partner.

Expanded to include the Socialist Party of Serbia, with which the SNS has always been in coalition, there would again be a clear majority for the previous government camp.