Student-backed movement wins Serbia's parliamentary election as Vucic concedes defeat
Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat late Sunday after preliminary projections showed that a student-backed movement had won an outright majority in the country's snap parliamentary election, ending the Serbian Progressive Party's (SNS) 14-year dominance.
The movement emerged from months of anti-corruption protests and university blockades. Initial projections by polling agencies Ipsos and CeSID put the "Student List — Students Win" at 52 percent of the vote, ahead of Vucic's ruling coalition, which received 39.3 percent.
Speaking at his campaign headquarters in Belgrade before final official results were available, Vucic said a stratified sample indicated that the student-backed list would win between 135 and 140 of the parliament's 250 seats. His coalition was projected to secure around 105 seats.
"I want to inform you that based on the stratified sample, it is clear that we have lost these elections. The student-backed list has won," Vucic said. According to his projections, the student-backed list received approximately 2.2 million votes, compared with roughly 1.72 million for his coalition.
Celebrations broke out at the Student List's headquarters. Prominent candidate Radomir Saicic, a University of Belgrade professor and member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, described the result as a historic victory for Serbian citizens.
"Tonight the voice of the people is heard," Saicic said, noting that preliminary results showed the Student List leading convincingly across polling stations.
He described the outcome as "a victory of courage over fear, a victory of hope over apathy, a victory of faith that Serbia can and must be different." Saicic stressed that the victory belonged to the public rather than to any individual and urged supporters to celebrate peacefully and avoid provocations or confrontations.
Sunday's election determined all 250 seats in Serbia's unicameral parliament, with 126 needed for a majority. About 6.45 million voters were eligible to cast ballots at 8,392 polling stations. Eighteen electoral lists, featuring a total of 2,418 candidates, competed in the vote.
The projected outcome marks a major shift in Serbian politics. Vucic and the SNS have held a dominant position since 2012. Vucic resigned as president on Sept. 27 to participate in the parliamentary election, with a new presidential vote required by the end of December.
The student-backed movement grew out of nearly two years of anti-corruption protests and university blockades. Public anger intensified after a canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad collapsed in November 2024, killing 16 people. The tragedy became a focal point for demands for accountability and action against corruption.
The movement's electoral list, formally headed by Novi Sad University professor Ilija Srdanovic, campaigned on institutional reform and anti-corruption measures. It challenged both the ruling bloc and established opposition parties, including the Socialist Party of Serbia, pro-European groups and right-wing parties.
In his concession speech, Vucic said he had announced the projections before the official results to spare supporters uncertainty and counter claims that he would refuse to acknowledge an electoral defeat. He attributed his coalition's projected loss to foreign support for the protest movement, describing the result as a "verification of a revolution."
Vucic thanked his supporters and pledged that his political movement would remain united and continue its work from the opposition benches.
If confirmed by official results, the projections would give the student-backed movement enough seats to form a single-party parliamentary majority. The result would represent the SNS's most significant electoral setback since it came to power in 2012.
