BELGRADE, May 12 (Reuters) - Serbia's pro-European alliance sought a coalition deal with smaller parties on Monday to stave off a challenge from nationalist runners-up who say they too can form a government after Sunday's parliamentary election.

Preliminary official results from the state electoral commission showed the 250-seat parliament almost evenly split between nationalists and pro-Europeans.

Both sides laid claim to a parliamentary majority.

The results are based on around 98 percent of votes counted (Five percent is the threshold for entering parliament, except for minority parties):

PARTY/BLOC PERCENTAGE PARLIAMENT SEATS

DS-led bloc 38.75 102

SRS 29.2 77

DSS/NS 11.3 30

SPS-led bloc 7.6 20

LDP 5.3 14

Ethnic minorities 3.2 7

NOTE:

DS-led bloc - The pro-European Democratic Party of Serbian President Boris Tadic, in coalition with the liberal, technocrat G17+ and ethnic minorities

SRS - The nationalist Serbian Radical Party of opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic

DSS/NS - Outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia and the New Serbia party

SPS-led coalition - The Socialist Party of Serbia of late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic, the Pensioners Party and a small nationalist group

LDP - The pro-European Liberal Democratic Party

(Editing by Jon Boyle)

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