ISTANBUL

The Kremlin on Monday welcomed the victory claimed by Serbia’s ruling party led by President Aleksandar Vucic in parliamentary elections held a day earlier.

“This is an exclusively internal matter of Serbia, Serbia that is friendly to us, Serbia that is brotherly to us. We, of course, welcome this success of Mr. Vucic,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a press briefing.

Expressing that Moscow is closely monitoring the parliamentary elections in Serbia, Peskov said that Russia hopes this will contribute to the further development of the country.

“Of course, we expect that the trajectory of further strengthening our friendship, our mutually beneficial and mutually respectful interaction will continue,” Peskov further said.

On Sunday, Serbia held snap general and local elections for the country's 250-seat parliament, 120-member Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and municipal councils.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won 47% of the vote with half of the votes counted.

She further said that the coalition Serbia Against Violence (SPN) got 23%, while the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the SNS's ruling partner, received 6.7%.​​​​​​​