Romania's opposition Democratic Party (PD) is set to win the most MEP seats, followed by the leftist Social-Democratic party (PSD), preliminary vote-count figures show.

PD is set to win 29,1% of the vote, with PSD grabbing 22,15%, while the ruling Liberal party came in third with 13,4%, according to the electoral commission's data, released after 85% of the votes have been counted.

The Liberal-Democrats, who splintered from the Liberals after the party decided to end its alliance with PD, got 8% and ethnic Hungarian UDMR - 5,8%.

Nationalists PRM were handed a heavy defeat, winning only 4,15% of the vote, while the PNG party of wealthy businessman Gigi Becali had 4,9%.

Independent candidate Laszlo Tokes, the dissident priest whose attempted banishment had kick-started the overthrow of the communist regime in 1989, won 3,6% and is set to be elected to the European Parliament.

Romania has 35 seats in the European legislature, which it has to fill with elected officials after joining the bloc in January, who will replace the ones appointed by the country's parliament.

But the MEPs elected at this vote will serve a term of less than two years - until the next EU-wide European Parliament elections in 2009.

Turnout at the polls was 28,4%, according to preliminary data, on par with the one figures recorded when neighbouring Bulgaria, which joined the EU together with Romania, went to polls in May.

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