For more than a decade, Aleksandar Vučić dominated Serbian politics. On Sunday, October 25, he admitted it was over. In snap parliamentary elections, a protest movement led by university students beat his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) by a wide margin, and Vučić conceded the same night.
“It is clear we have lost these elections,” Vučić told supporters at his party’s headquarters in Belgrade, according to BBC News. Crowds poured into the streets of Belgrade, Novi Sad and other cities to celebrate. Here is what we know, based on reporting from the BBC, The Guardian and preliminary figures from Serbia’s Republic Electoral Commission.
The numbers
On Monday evening the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) published preliminary results covering 97.56% of polling stations. They showed:
- Student List (“Studenti pobeđuju”): 2,267,615 votes, or 52.71%, which the government’s official summary translated into 140 of the 250 seats in parliament.
- Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia (the SNS-led list): 1,685,022 votes, or 39.17%, and 104 seats.
- Ivica Dačić’s Socialist-led list: 2.17% and, according to the same summary, no seats.
Several national minority lists also won seats. On Sunday night, before the count was complete, Vučić himself had predicted the students would end up with between 135 and 140 seats against about 105 for his side. The final certified figures may still shift slightly, but a majority for the Student List looks secure.
How a protest became a political force
The movement was born out of tragedy. In November 2024, a concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. Students blamed corruption and negligence in public works, and their protests grew into one of the largest and longest-running civic movements in recent European history.
Rather than forming a traditional party with a single leader, the students built a list of candidates drawn from across Serbian society, including doctors, actors, academics and sports figures, the BBC reported. Their platform focused on anti-corruption measures: removing officials who broke rules in cracking down on protesters, stopping party loyalists from running public enterprises and freeing the public broadcaster from political control.
Vučić and the SNS have repeatedly denied corruption allegations.
Why Vučić was on the ballot at all
Vučić had served two terms as president and could not run for a third. He led the SNS list in this election with the aim of returning to the post of prime minister, a job he left in 2017. His party had been in power since 2012.
That history is what makes the result so striking. Political scientist Nebojša Vladisavljević of the University of Belgrade told BBC Serbian it was “not an ordinary election victory” but “an avalanche.”
Reaction at home and abroad
The Student List’s lead candidate, Ilija Srdanović, told BBC Serbian, “This will be a free state.” Another candidate, Radomir Saičić, told supporters that “no obstacle was greater than their will,” Reuters reported.
Abroad, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said “a new chapter can begin for Serbia,” adding that “the door to the EU is open.” Hungary’s prime minister, Péter Magyar, welcomed the result. From Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov praised Vučić’s role in relations with Russia and said he hoped the new political force would see cooperation with Moscow as being in Serbia’s interest.
Serbia has been an EU candidate country for years while refusing to join sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, so how the new majority handles that balance will be watched closely in Brussels and Moscow alike.
What happens next
Three big questions now hang over Belgrade:
- Who becomes prime minister? The Student List has no obvious single leader, so choosing a head of government will be its first major test.
- The presidency. Presidential elections are due in December. According to the BBC, parliament speaker Ana Brnabić is currently filling the role in a caretaker capacity.
- Delivering on promises. A movement built on protest now has to run ministries, pass budgets and negotiate with Europe, while Vučić’s party remains a large opposition bloc of more than 100 seats.
The bottom line
Two years after a station canopy fell in Novi Sad, the students who marched in its memory have won power at the ballot box. The preliminary count gives them a clear majority and Vučić has accepted defeat. The hard part, governing, starts now.
Image: 'House of National Assembly' of Serbia. by Rudolph.A.furtado via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0
