Montenegro's incumbent President Filip Vujanovic declared reelection victory Sunday in the tiny republic's first election since it announced independence from a union with Serbia two years ago.
"We won, we won for all of us, for our Montenegro, for our better future," Vujanovic told supporters of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) at a celebration rally in the capital Podgorica.
"I'll be a president for all citizens of Montenegro. We'll work together on Montenegro's European road, so that Montenegro belongs to the European Union," the 53-year-old Vujanovic said.
According to polls monitor Center for Democratic Transition, Vujanovic won some 51.4 percent of the votes, well above the 50 percent threshold to deny a possible second round two weeks later.
Andrija Mandic, who represents pro-Serb parties, has secure 20. 4 percent of votes while the liberal candidate Nebojsa Medojevic has 15.7 percent for the third place. The last candidate Srdjan Milic of the center-left Socialist People's Party got some 12.5 percent votes.
Official results are expected on Tuesday, but election monitors said that Vujanovic's victory was unshakable.
Montenegro's president serves a five-year term for a largely ceremonial role.
The election reinforces the independence of the tiny Adriatic country of some 650,000 people. It also was a test for Vujanovic's DPS, which was plagued by infighting within the party after having virtually unchallenged in the Balkan republic since 1990.
