Tadic claims victory in Serbian presidential poll
(BELGRADE) - Serbian reformist Boris Tadic claimed victory over ultra-nationalist Tomislav Nikolic in Sunday's presidential election runoff, seen as a referendum on its future in the European Union.
"These elections are over and I can announce that we have won the presidential elections all together," Tadic told supporters of his pro-Western Democratic Party.
"I congratulate all the citizens of Serbia on us being a European democracy. We have shown to many EU member countries the democratic potential of this country," said the 50-year-old.
"I want to congratulate my rival, Tomislav Nikolic, on this difficult and fair race. The number of votes he has won deserves full respect.
"I will talk with Nikolic since a large number of citizens supported his idea. But now the most important thing is for Serbia to unite.
"This is a big victory of all of us," said Tadic.
With 57 percent of the vote counted, Tadic had 51.16 percent against 47.18 percent for Nikolic of the Serbian Radical Party, according to preliminary results from the electoral commission.
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