STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Sweden's ruling Social Democrats claimed victory in national elections Sunday after a close race with the center-right opposition, and were positioned to form a minority government.
"This is an important moment for me as party leader — to win an election and go against a European trend, to win so clearly when in government," Prime Minister Goeran Persson said. "I'm happy and moved but not so surprised."
With nearly 100 percent of the vote counted, the long-governing Social Democrats are positioned to stay in power, provided they gain the support of the Left and Green parties in the 349-seat Riksdag, or parliament.
The three parties had a combined 191 parliamentary seats, compared with 158 for the four center-right opposition parties, led by the conservative Moderate Party, according to official results.
Persson, who pledged continued commitment to Sweden's cherished cradle-to-grave welfare system, said the results showed his Social Democratic Party bucked a conservative trend in Europe.
He also expressed hope that Germany would follow in its elections this week as Social Democratic German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder counters a challenge from conservative Edmund Stoiber.
"This is a fantastic success," Persson said, waving bouquets of red roses. "We broke the trend. Next week our German comrades can follow us."
The strong showing followed a rocky election campaign with several opinion polls recently showing the blocs statistically tied as support for the Liberal Party surged in the wake of a proposal on immigration.
"This looks very good," Left Party leader Gudrun Schyman said. "The red team seems to have won."
The Social Democrats gained 13 seats for a total of 144.
But the real election surprise was the gain by Liberal Party leader Lars Leijonborg, 52, who came out strong with a proposal requiring immigrants pass a Swedish language test before gaining citizenship.
The Liberals' support tripled, making them the third-largest parliamentary party, while the main opposition Moderates lost 28 seats in their worst showing since 1973.
"After four straight election losses it was about do or die. We won. Our message was change," Leijonborg said.
The Left and the Green parties signaled Sunday that they would cooperate with the Social Democrats.