Slovakia's former Prime Minister - hardline nationalist Vladimir Meciar - has won the largest share of the vote in the country's general election but looks set to be excluded from power.

Poll results

Vladimir Meciar, HZDS: 19.5% Mikulas Dzurinda, SDKU 15.1% Smer 13.5% Hungarian SMK 11.2% Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) 8.25% Ano 8.02% Communist KSS 6.32% Turnout 70.07%

Preliminary official results said Mr Meciar's HZDS won 19.5% of the vote, followed by Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) with just over 15%.

But correspondents say Mr Dzurinda will be able to form the next government - the coalition of centre-right parties led by the SDKU has managed to win the overall majority of votes for the 150-seat parliament.

The results are likely to please the European Union and Nato, which had warned Slovakia that its application for membership of the organisations would run into trouble under a Meciar government.

Mr Meciar was criticised for human rights violations and democratic failures during his 1994-1998 term as prime minister but he remains popular.

Left out

Mr Dzurinda's SDKU won 15.1%, while current governing coalition partners the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) scored 8.25% and the ethnic Hungarian SMK party polled 11.2%, the Central Election Bureau announced at a press conference.

The results paved the way for these three parties to form a pro-European integration government with Ano - led by the co-owner of Slovakia's biggest commercial TV station, Pavol Rusko - which polled 8.02%.

Meciar - out of power

Experts say that even though Mr Meciar won the biggest share of votes, no party will deal with him, and - just as in the 1998 vote - the centre-right allies led by Mr Dzurinda should be able to form a majority government.

Among other winners was leftist populist, Robert Fico, whose Smer party had been leading the polls but won less of the vote than expected - 13.5%.

Robert Fico did less well than expected

The only other party to obtain over 5% of the vote needed to enter parliament was the unreformed Communist Party (KSS) which returned to parliament for the first time since Slovakia's independence in 1993 after polling 6.32% of the vote.

Voter participation was 70.07%.

The full results are expected on Monday but the BBC's Ray Furlong, in Bratislava, says they are unlikely to change anything.