AKIPRESS.COM - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has won a clear victory in the country's presidential election, BBCreported.

He won about 55%, well above the threshold to avoid a run-off, with most results counted.

His closest challenger, Sasa Jankovic, polled 16%, while satirical candidate Ljubisa Preletacevic came third with 9% of the vote.

Mr Vucic is pro-EU, but is accused by his rivals of using the election to tighten his grip on power.

Declaring victory, Mr Vucic said the people had voted for his policy of joining the EU without turning away from traditional allies Russia and China.

"This shows in what direction Serbia wants to go. It has been important for this victory to be as clear as a tear drop to not allow anyone to make a random interpretation of the difference that has been made."

He became prime minister after his pro-EU nationalist Progressive Party won a landslide victory in early parliamentary elections in 2014.

In the latest campaign, the 47-year-old highlighted Serbia's economic growth under his tenure.

He was previously a radical Serb nationalist who served under President Slobodan Milosevic in the late 1990s.

But in 2008, he left the country's Radical party to help found the moderate Progressive Party, signalling a clear break with his nationalist past.

"I do not hide that I have changed... I am proud of that," he told the AFP news agency in a 2012 interview.

But his past has followed him nonetheless.