Democratic Party of Serbia

Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, has taken took control of the traditional bastion of the opposition Democratic Party, the northern Province of Vojvodina, as well as most municipalities and major cities.

Bojan Klacar, director of the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, CESID, told BIRN that the SNS was only a "relative winner" in last Sunday's elections.

BELGRADE - The coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won 48.25 percent of the votes in Sunday's early parliamentary elections, show the latest preliminary results released by the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) based on 97.46 percent of polling stations processed.

According to poll monitors from the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, CESID, the Serbian Progressive Party won 51 per cent of votes at the parliamentary elections on Sunday.

New opinion polls from Factor Plus polling agency show that Prime Minister's Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party is on course for a landslide win in the next parliament.

Vucic called early elections on April 24 on Tuesday night, describing them as "a referendum on whether Serbia wants to be a modern European country in 2020, whether it wants the future or the past".

The adoption of the Support and Procurement Organization, NSPO, agreement with NATO has sparked a stormy debate in the country about whether it is undermining Serbia's proclaimed doctrine of military neutrality and bringing it closer to NATO.

Serbian opposition parties have slated the Defence Minister, Bratislav Gasic, for allowing a local authority to use soldiers to serve alcoholic drinks - rakija [fruit brandy] and boiled wine - at a pop concert in the minister's home town of Krusevac on December 31.

The event was a concert by the popular folk singer Svetlana "Ceca" Raznatovic.

Serbia's Agency for Business Registers is four months behind schedule in publishing its analysis on business conditions in 2014 in Serbia. The deadline expired in June.

The Agency declined to disclose the reasons for a delay.

Gabrijela Petkovic-Jovanovic, from the agency, told BIRN on Friday that the analysis would be published next week.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic on Thursday said that his government had full legitimacy and will not quit in the face of opposition protests in the capital, Podgorica.

The Democratic Party of Serbia and the right-wing movement Dveri said on Friday that government's decision to sell Telekom was "scandalous", insisting there was no economic reason for selling a company that earns millions of euros annually.

BELGRADE - A total of 18 political parties and 14 groups of citizens have submitted their annual financial reports to the Anti-Corruption Agency so far, the Agency has told Tanjug, adding that the deadline for submitting electronic reports expires at midnight Wednesday.