On Sunday morning, Serbian presidential election kicked off, pitting the pro-European Boris Tadic against the ultra-nationalist Tomislav Nikolic in a close race.

According to the pollsters Tadic and Nikolic are certain to go into the run-off on February 3, as neither has a realistic chance of winning more than 50 per cent of the votes cast and none of the remaining seven candidates expected to win more than 4 per cent.

Surveys gave Nikolic, who wants Serbia to ice relations with countries backing the independence of Serbia's breakaway province Kosovo, a slight, 21-19 per cent edge over Tadic in the first round.

The run-off in two weeks would also be close and may be decided by a few hundred thousand of the 6.7 million eligible votes, pollsters said. A higher turnout favours Tadic, while apathy is likelier to swing the outcome Nikolic's way.

Voting starts at 7 am and ends at 8 pm local time (0600-1900 GMT). First results are expected shortly after the polling stations close.

Last Friday, the European Union announced it will egin technical talks on lifting its visa regime with Serbia on January 30.

"People-to-people contacts are key elements towards closer cooperation between the EU and Serbia... This dialogue is a tangible proof of the political commitments taken by the EU and reaffirms the European perspective of Serbia," EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said in a statement.

The dialogue "will allow both parties to identify key areas for actions such as illegal immigration, public order and security. It will result in mutually agreed conditions to be met by the Serbian authorities for an eventual visa-free regime," Frattini said.

In December, Serbia initiated a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, the first step towards candidate member status