Serbia’s Leader Concedes Defeat to Student Protest Movement

Serbia’s powerful leader Aleksandar Vucic has acknowledged defeat to a student-backed political movement, in an electoral result that signals a dramatic shift in the Balkan country’s politics.

The closely fought parliamentary election on Sunday was marked by heavy turnout and mounting tensions.

While 18 parties competed for seats in Serbia’s 250-member Parliament, the vote effectively became a referendum on Mr Vucic’s right-wing Serbian Progressive Party and the Students’ List.

The Students’ List is made up of 250 academics, professionals and public figures chosen by university students who have spearheaded protests against Mr Vucic for nearly two years. The group is led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic.

The youth-supported Students’ List emerged victorious among Serbia’s 6.4 million voters, prompting Mr Vucic to concede defeat on Sunday.

Mr Vucic, who had received the backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin, previously dismissed the student protests as a foreign-backed effort to remove him from power. He had ruled with near-total authority for 14 years.

“The Students’ List has won,” Mr Vucic told supporters at his party’s election-night gathering. However, he blamed Serbia’s independent media, alleged involvement by unnamed European countries and an “American deep state” for the result.

Mr Vucic said his SNS party had secured about 1.7 million votes, compared with approximately 2.2 million for the Students’ List.

Supporters of the Students’ List quickly poured into the streets of Belgrade and cities across Serbia, sounding car horns, shouting and chanting, “Aleksandar is gone” in reference to Mr Vucic.

Ivo Petrovic, a 31-year-old software developer and Students’ List supporter, said: “It’s unbelievable. I mean, most people don’t even realise yet what a victory we’ve won today.

“I haven’t cried yet, which tells me I haven’t processed it. It’s going to take a while.

“Everyone is ecstatic. Everywhere you go, people are blaring their horns and holding up three fingers.”

The three-finger gesture is a sacred symbol in Serbia, representing the Holy Trinity, and has become associated with protection among student protesters. Its significance was heightened by the Students’ List being placed third on the ballot paper.

Mr Vucic announced the outcome roughly 90 minutes after polls closed, following a day in which tensions intensified as voting took place.

Police wearing anti-riot equipment sealed off part of central Belgrade near the headquarters of the election commission.

Special police vehicles were spotted near a Belgrade park where Mr Vucic’s supporters have maintained a camp for more than a year. Large groups of men dressed in black also gathered at several locations across the capital.

Mr Vucic was seeking to become Serbia’s prime minister after serving two near-full terms as president. He resigned the presidency last month to lead the campaign.

Support for the populist had eroded since 16 people were killed in 2024 when a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Novi Sad. That set off a wave of youth protests that blamed the collapse on high-level corruption, cronyism and rampant graft during renovation work at the station.

Despite the protests, Vucic retained considerable support among many of Serbia’s voters. Admirers viewed him as a capable leader who can steer the nation through global uncertainties – the image that was carefully crafted by the mainstream media.

While the increasingly authoritarian Mr Vucic has routinely outplayed Serbia’s fractured opposition in the past, the leaderless youth movement proved to be a tough opponent that rattled his firm grip on power in Serbia like no one else in the 14 years since his party took office.

The newly formed Students’ List movement was shaped by university students but none actually appeared on the election list. Instead, its candidates are little-known experts, athletes, farmers and artists.

This approach was meant to counter Mr Vucic’s one-man rule and restore a sense of community and solidarity. The students’ message during the campaign focused on a non-partisan effort to rebuild Serbia’s economy and restore its democracy.

The students have used youthful energy to attract voters who are disillusioned with local politicians. Vilified by pro-government media, they cycled and walked through the country to reach voters in rural areas – Mr Vucic’s traditional strongholds.

The student victory echoed the recent electoral defeat of a Vucic ally in Hungary, where youth participation helped oust the autocratic Viktor Orbán after 16 years and bring in a new pro-European government. It was likely to resonate beyond Serbia as countries across Europe have faced angry youth and student protests.

Monitors predicted that total turnout in the election could reach around 70 per cent, unseen in Serbia since 2000. 

During the day, long queues formed at polling stations in Serbia and in cities around the world. Some in the Serbian diaspora were made to vote in the middle of the night after authorities tied voting hours to local Serbian time.

Recent Serbian elections had been marred by irregularities and the EU was closely watching the conduct of Sunday’s vote in a candidate nation for the bloc’s membership.

Independent election monitors reported dozens of cases of irregularities on Sunday such as photographing of ballots that suggested pressure on voters and attempted vote buying.

Mr Petrovic accused Vucic loyalists of ‘attacking the closest polling station to the parliament earlier in the day’ and said teams of students were deployed around the city to try and defuse any potential flare-ups or intimidation.  

Both international and local election monitors had expressed concern about the safety and fairness of an election campaign marked by detentions, near-total government control over the media and reports of surveillance and cyberattacks against activists.

Local elections earlier this year in ten municipalities in Serbia saw violent attacks on journalists and activists. The previous parliamentary vote in 2023 was followed by opposition protests alleging fraud.