English
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat on Sunday after a landmark parliamentary election that handed victory to the student-led opposition movement known as the Students’ List. The result ended 14 years of near-absolute political dominance by Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party.
Vucic announced the outcome roughly 90 minutes after polls closed. He told supporters at his party’s election night event that the Students’ List had secured between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-member Parliament. His SNS party, he said, would hold around 105 seats.
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In terms of raw votes, Vucic said his party received approximately 1.7 million votes. The Students’ List, he added, took around 2.2 million. Despite conceding, Vucic blamed Serbia’s independent media, unnamed European countries and what he called an “American deep state” for his party’s loss.
Belgrade Erupts in Celebration
Supporters of the Students’ List immediately poured into the streets of Belgrade and other cities across Serbia. Crowds honked car horns, chanted and shouted “Aleksandar is gone,” in a direct reference to Vucic.
Tensions had been building throughout the day as voting progressed. Police in anti-riot gear cordoned off an area in central Belgrade near the election commission headquarters. Special police vehicles appeared near a Belgrade park where Vucic’s loyalists had been camping for over a year. Large groups of black-clad men also gathered at various points across the city.
Serbia’s 6.4 million eligible voters cast ballots in what became a highly contested showdown. Monitors predicted total turnout could reach around 70 percent — a level not seen in Serbia since 2000. Long queues formed at polling stations both inside Serbia and in cities around the world. Some members of the Serbian diaspora were required to vote in the middle of the night because authorities tied voting hours to local Serbian time.
Protests Over Corruption Drove Vucic’s Downfall
Vucic’s political decline began in 2024, when a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Novi Sad, killing 16 people. The disaster triggered a wave of youth protests. Demonstrators blamed the collapse on high-level corruption, cronyism and widespread graft during renovation work at the station.
The protests grew into a sustained two-year movement that steadily eroded Vucic’s support base. However, he retained considerable backing among many Serbian voters. Supporters viewed him as a capable leader who could guide the country through global uncertainty — an image carefully maintained by pro-government media.
Vucic had been seeking to become Serbia’s prime minister after serving two near-full terms as president. He resigned the presidency last month to lead the SNS election campaign. Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously endorsed Vucic, and Vucic himself repeatedly dismissed the student movement as a foreign-led effort to remove him from power.
The Student Movement That Changed Serbia
The Students’ List emerged as a genuinely new political force. University students shaped the movement, but none appeared on the actual election list. Instead, its candidates included little-known experts, athletes, farmers and artists.
This approach was a deliberate counter to Vucic’s one-man style of leadership. The campaign focused on rebuilding Serbia’s economy and restoring democratic institutions through a non-partisan, community-driven effort.
Students used their energy and mobility to reach voters far beyond urban centres. Despite being attacked by pro-government media, they cycled and walked through rural areas — traditionally Vucic’s strongest support base. Their leaderless structure made them difficult to target and proved far more resilient than Serbia’s previously fractured opposition.
The result drew comparisons to recent political shifts elsewhere in Europe. In Hungary, strong youth participation helped remove Vucic ally Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, bringing in a new pro-European government. Observers noted the Serbian outcome could resonate across Europe, where student and youth protests have challenged established governments in several countries.
Election Integrity Under Scrutiny
The European Union closely monitored Sunday’s vote. Serbia is a candidate nation for EU membership, and recent Serbian elections have been marred by irregularities.
Independent election monitors reported dozens of irregularities on Sunday. These included cases of ballots being photographed, suggesting pressure on voters, and attempted vote buying. Both international and local monitors had already raised concerns about the campaign itself, citing detentions, near-total government control over media, and reports of surveillance and cyberattacks against activists.
Earlier local elections in 10 Serbian municipalities this year saw violent attacks on journalists and activists. Furthermore, the previous parliamentary election in 2023 was followed by opposition protests alleging widespread fraud. Sunday’s result, therefore, carries significance well beyond a single election cycle — it marks a fundamental shift in Serbian political life.
