Serbia’s ruling Progressive Party (SNS) has won a landslide victory in Europe’s first national election since COVID-19 crisis began, according to projections on Sunday evening.

“I am grateful to the people for this historic support. We received a huge vote of confidence, which is also a call for us to do even better”, - President Aleksander Vucic, who leads the SNS party, said.

A sample of polling stations by pollsters Ipsos and CeSID put Vucic’s SNS firmly in the lead with 63.4% of the vote, the Socialist Party — junior partners in the governing coalition — in second place with 10.3%, and the center-right Serbian Patriotic Alliance in third place with 3.9%. Exit polls are not allowed in Serbia.