Early indications in Serbia's May 11 elections were that voter turnout would be higher than in recent elections, Serbian and international news agencies reported.

Voting was reported to be proceeding calmly, and no problems were reported as Serbs in northern Kosovo's Mitrovico joined in voting. Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence on February 17, has been backed by several Western countries in opposing the inclusion of its territory in voting for Serbian elections.

The May 11 election is widely seen as a choice between a pro-Western route and the option of Serbia, irked by Western support for Kosovo independence, turning its back on the West in a display of ultra-nationalism.

Agence France Presse reported that Serbian ultra-nationalist leader Tomislav Nikolic, after casting his ballot in Belgrade, vowed to stop Serbia's moves towards accession to the European Union unless the EU accepted that Kosovo remained part of Serbia.

In Serbia's election, about 6.7 million people have the right to vote. At stake at 250 seats in the unicameral parliament, being contested by 22 electoral tickets, as well as municipal council seats. Polls opened at the local equivalent of 5am GMT and close at 6pm GMT. Official results are expected by about Tuesday May 13 and may be confirmed by no later than midnight on May 15. The Serbian parliament is constituted after the confirmation of at least two thirds of the mandates of members of parliament, by mid-June. The parliament then has up to three months to election Serbia's new government.

Ahead of the May 10 "day of contemplation" on which canvassing was banned, polls gave a very narrow lead to the ultra-nationalist Radical Party ahead of the alliance led by pro-Western president Boris Tadic.

By 11am Eastern European Time, voter turnout was close to 10 per cent, Serbian news agencies reported, citing figures from the country's electoral commission. This was a higher rate than in the second round of the 2004 presidential elections, news agency B92 reported.

Serbian expatriates also voting, at a total of 77 voting stations in 38 countries. Just more than 51 000 Serbian expatriates are entitled to vote. Special voting stations have been set up for Kosovo Serbs displaced from the territory.

In Kosovo, the security situation was reported to be peaceful and completely under control, members of the Kosovo Police Service and KFOR were reported as saying by the B92 news agency.

International police and KFOR troops were patrolling and monitoring polling stations in their usual numbers, the agency said. 

Serbia's elections were called in March after prime minister Vojislav Kostunica's year-old government collapsed in a rift over ties with the EU after most EU nations recognised Kosovo's independence.

"The May 11 elections are a form of referendum at which citizens will decide on whether or not Serbia ... will be a member of the European Union," Tadic told voters at the close of his campaign, AFP reported.

Serbia's Beta news agency reported on May 8 that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering had said that on May 11 Serbs would get to vote for or against Europe.

Barroso and Poettering said that Serbs have gone through difficult times, adding that they now have to decide by themselves whether or not they want to live in Europe. Tadic's party has been campaigning on the basis of a slogan "For a European Serbia".