TABLE: Projection of Serb vote shows no obvious majority

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A coalition of pro-Western parties came first in Serbia's parliamentary election on Sunday, but faced an immediate challenge from the nationalist runners-up who said they too could form a government.

A projection of the result by respected independent monitors CESID showed the 250-seat parliament almost evenly split between nationalists and pro-Europeans.

Both sides laid claim to a parliamentary majority.

Projected results by the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, CESID. (Five percent is the threshold for entering parliament, except for minority parties):

PARTY/BLOC PERCENTAGE PARLIAMENT SEATS

DS-led bloc 38.7 103

SRS 29.1 77

DSS/NS 11.3 30

SPS-led bloc 7.9 20

LDP 5.2 13

Ethnic minorities 3.1 7

Official preliminary results by the Republic Electoral Commission, based on results from 34 percent of polling stations (Figures were likely to change as results come in):