Serbia’s long-standing strongman leader Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat in Sunday’s election, pitting him and his right-wing party against a diverse student-led opposition movement in a two-year battle. protest against his government.
It’s a seismic political shift in the Balkan country where Vucic has led with almost absolute power for 14 years. Vucic has the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has denounced the student movement as a foreign-led attempt to overthrow him.
High turnout and rising tensions marked the hotly contested parliamentary election, a showdown between Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progress Party and university students who have built a wide following across the country by accusing the government of corruption and the dismantling of democracy.
Serbia’s 6.4 million voters elect members to the 250-member parliament. In conceding defeat in the election, Vucic said his party expected his rival, the youth-backed Students’ Party, to get 135 to 140 seats, while his SNS party would get about 105 seats.
“The student list won,” Vucic told supporters at the party’s election night event, although he blamed the defeat on Serbia’s independent media and interference from unnamed European countries and the “American deep state”.
Vucic said his Social Network party won about 1.7 million votes, while the student party won about 2.2 million votes.
Supporters of the student list immediately took to the streets of Belgrade and other cities, honking horns, shouting and shouting: “Alexander is gone,” referring to Vucic.
Vucic announced the results about an hour and a half after polls closed, as tensions mounted as the day progressed.
Police in riot gear cordoned off an area around the Electoral Commission headquarters in central Belgrade. Special police vehicles can be seen near a park in Belgrade where Vucic’s supporters have been camping for more than a year, and large groups of men dressed in black have gathered at various locations around the city.
Vucic is seeking to become Serbia’s prime minister at the end of his two terms as Serbia’s president. He resigned from the presidency last month to lead the campaign.
Support for the populists has eroded since a concrete canopy collapsed on Novi Sad train station in 2024, killing 16 people. This triggered a wave of protests by youths who blamed the collapse on high-level corruption, nepotism and rampant graft during the station’s renovation project.
Despite the protests, Vucic still enjoys considerable support among many Serbian voters. Admirers see him as a capable leader who can steer the country through global uncertainty – an image carefully crafted by the mainstream media.
While the increasingly authoritarian Vucic has often defeated Serbia’s fractured opposition in the past, the leaderless youth movement has proven a tough opponent and no one has shaken his firm grip on power in Serbia like no other in the 14 years since his party took office.
The newly formed Student List Movement was started by university students, but none of them actually appeared on the electoral lists. Instead, its candidates are little-known experts, athletes, farmers and artists.
This approach is aimed at countering Vucic’s authoritarian rule and restoring a sense of community and solidarity. The students’ message during the campaign focused on non-partisan efforts to rebuild Serbia’s economy and restore democracy.
Students used their youthful energy to appeal to voters disillusioned with local politicians. Maligned by pro-government media, they cycled and walked across the country to reach voters in rural areas of Vucic’s traditional stronghold.
The students’ victory echoes the defeat of Vucic’s allies in recent elections in Hungary, where young people’s participation helped oust dictator Viktor Orban after 16 years and form a new pro-European government. It is likely to resonate beyond Serbia as countries across Europe face angry youth and student protests.
Monitors predict that total electoral turnout may reach around 70%, the highest turnout in Serbia since 2000. During the day, long lines formed at polling stations in Serbia and cities around the world. Some Serbian expatriates were forced to vote in the middle of the night after authorities linked voting times to local Serbian time.
The recent Serbian election was marred by irregularities and the EU is closely watching Sunday’s vote in candidate countries for EU membership.
Independent election monitors reported dozens of irregularities on Sunday, such as taking photos of ballots, suggesting pressure on voters and attempts to buy votes.
International and local election monitors have expressed concerns about the security and fairness of the campaign, including detentions, near-total government control of the media and reports of surveillance and cyber attacks on activists.
Earlier this year, local elections in 10 Serbian cities were marred by violent attacks on journalists and activists. After the last parliamentary vote in 2023, the opposition staged protests alleging fraud.