Serbia’s Student Movement Topples Vučić

Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s dominant political figure for more than a decade, conceded defeat after a student-led movement won snap parliamentary elections. Early estimates gave the Student List 135 to 140 seats in the 250-member parliament, against 105 for Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). Turnout was the highest in more than 30 years. The movement grew out of protests following the November 2024 collapse of a Novi Sad train station canopy, which killed 16 people. It campaigned on tackling corruption, depoliticising public institutions and restoring citizens’ rights. Vucic had dismissed demonstrators as “blockaders” and accused them of destabilising Serbia. The article traces Vucic’s political evolution from the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, which he joined in 1993, to the SNS, founded with Tomislav Nikolic in 2008 and presented as more mainstream. It recalls Vucic’s nationalist rhetoric during the 1990s, including a 1995 threat against Muslims, and notes the later conviction of his political mentor Vojislav Seselj for crimes against non-Serbs during the Balkan wars. Vucic rose through government roles to become president in 2017, winning re-election in 2022. Although his presidential term was due to end in 2027, he resigned in September under protest pressure and called early elections. Critics say he made few promises good while consolidating control over state institutions, media and political life. Serbia’s economy grew during Vucic’s time in power: unemployment fell, nominal GDP nearly tripled, foreign investment increased, and motorways were built. But the article notes that higher wages did not necessarily improve living standards proportionally, while living costs and public debt remained concerns. Analysts quoted in the report describe citizens’ anger as justified and argue that state institutions and independent public debate came under systematic pressure.

Serbia’s student-led opposition movement, the Student List, won a decisive victory in the snap parliamentary election, ending the long period of political dominance by Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party. The movement’s rise followed nearly two years of youth-led protests sparked by a 2024 railway station canopy collapse in Novi Sad that killed 16 people. Calls for accountability broadened into a campaign against alleged corruption and the weakening of democratic institutions. According to preliminary figures from the Republic Election Commission, the Student List received 52.54 percent of votes counted from 8,077 of 8,392 polling stations. The United Serbia list, led by Vucic’s party, received 39.29 percent. Turnout was 68.78 percent, a record high in more than 30 years. The Student List is projected to win 140 seats in the 250-seat parliament, giving it a majority without coalition partners; United Serbia is projected to receive 103 seats, with smaller parties sharing the remainder. The Student List has not named a prime ministerial candidate, emphasizing the movement’s collective character. Its campaign leader, Ilija Srdanovic, a University of Novi Sad medical professor and cardiologist, is considered the likeliest candidate, though appointments to important ministries remain uncertain. The movement’s stated priorities include tackling corruption and organized crime, improving living standards, employment and education, protecting media freedom and institutional independence, and improving relations with neighboring countries. The timetable for forming a government depends on the final election results and the convening of parliament. The National Assembly must be established within 30 days after final results are announced, and a government must follow within 90 days. Separately, Vucic’s resignation as president on September 27 means acting president Ana Brnabic must call an extraordinary presidential election by December 27. Serbia’s president is elected directly by voters, although the role is largely ceremonial.

Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat in Serbia’s snap parliamentary election to the Student List, a movement formed after a fatal railway-station canopy collapse in Novi Sad. With 97% of polling stations counted, the election commission reported 2.25 million votes for the students and 1.67 million for Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). Preliminary figures put the Student List at 52.7% and the SNS at 39.2%. Vučić, who had served two terms as president and could not run for a third, had led his party in hopes of returning as prime minister. He called the election after two years of protests over the disaster, which killed 16 people and was blamed on corruption and negligence. The Student List is a broad anti-corruption movement without obvious leaders. It fielded candidates drawn from across society, including doctors, actors, academics and sports figures. Its platform promised to remove officials who violated rules while cracking down on protesters, prevent party loyalists from running public enterprises, and reduce political control of the public broadcaster. The movement’s lead candidate, Ilija Srdanović, described the result as a step toward a free state. Supporters celebrated in Belgrade, Novi Sad and other cities, while voters also queued at polling stations abroad. Political scientist Nebojša Vladisavljević characterized the result as a sweeping rejection of the existing political order and said the Student List had legitimacy to govern. Vučić’s defeat drew reactions from Russia, Hungary and the European Union: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed hope for continued cooperation, Hungary’s Péter Magyar welcomed the result, and European Commissioner Marta Kos said a new chapter could begin in Serbia. Attention now turns to who will lead the Student List as prime minister. Presidential elections are scheduled for December, with parliament speaker Ana Brnabić serving in a caretaker capacity.

Serbia’s Student List, an electoral movement that emerged from student-led protests, won an absolute parliamentary majority, ending the 14-year rule of Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party. The victory has raised hopes in Brussels that Serbia may renew its relationship with the EU and revive its stalled accession process. The protests began after a deadly disaster at a renovated railway station in November 2024 and grew into a nationwide demand for accountability, anti-corruption measures, and institutional reform. The movement’s varied candidates and democratic origins are encouraging to EU officials, but its broad and internally diverse character leaves its policy direction uncertain. The article stresses that a change in government does not guarantee a foreign-policy shift or progress toward EU membership. The Student List’s published programme focuses on domestic issues, including procurement, education, media freedom, judicial independence, and health care. Its record and stated positions on key international questions remain a concern for Brussels. Serbia has not aligned with EU sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, and the Student List has said it would maintain that position. Serbia also depends on Russian energy and diplomatic support regarding Kosovo, whose independence the movement rejects. The list includes both pro-European and nationalist figures, and which group gains influence could determine the country’s direction. EU officials have welcomed the result, while diplomats and analysts urge caution. The article notes that eight EU member states previously blocked the opening of another accession negotiating cluster over concerns about democratic backsliding and foreign-policy alignment. Serbia’s approach to Montenegro, as well as the EU’s forthcoming enlargement report and member-state conclusions, may offer early indications of whether relations are changing. The peaceful vote and transfer of power are presented as evidence of democratic progress, but the prospects for a lasting realignment with Brussels remain unresolved.

The France 24 video report says Serbia’s student-led movement declared victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, ending 14 years in power for the right-wing populist party of Aleksandar Vucic. Vucic conceded defeat less than two hours after polls closed. His concession was followed by loud celebrations in Belgrade, where supporters of the movement celebrated the government’s loss. The report says those supporters blamed the outgoing government for deep-rooted corruption. The item is dated October 26, 2026, and credits its video to Juliette Montilly. Its headline characterizes Belgrade as being “in rapture” and the election as historic. The supplied page text, however, contains only a short description of the video rather than a full transcript or a longer article. It does not provide vote totals, details about the student movement’s platform, the identity of its leaders, or information about what happens next politically. Accordingly, the report’s central claims are the movement’s declared election victory, the end of Vucic’s party’s long period in power, Vucic’s prompt concession, and the celebratory scenes in the capital. The page also lists related Serbia and Europe videos, but those headlines are separate items and do not add substantive detail to this report.

Serbia’s October 25, 2026 parliamentary election produced a major victory for the student-led Student List, which won 52.45 percent of the vote and 138 seats. The Aleksandar Vucic – United Serbia list received 39.2 percent and 103 seats, ending the Serbian Progressive Party’s 14-year dominance, according to the article. The student movement grew out of protests following the deadly collapse of a railway-station canopy in Novi Sad in November 2024. Its supporters say it sought to turn public anger over corruption into political change by nominating candidates selected through a university-based democratic process, rather than having students run themselves. The article focuses on the movement’s efforts to monitor the election and deter fraud. Supporter Petar Botoski says it trained at least 16,000 official polling-station controllers, as well as mobile teams tasked with observing activity outside polling places. Reported concerns included unofficial voter lists, carousel voting, vote-buying and intimidation. Turnout reached 69 percent, substantially higher than the 55.5 percent recorded in the December 2023 parliamentary election. Botoski believes monitoring and reporting irregularities affected the outcome. Volunteers also describe threats and violence. Janko Sikosek recounts how bikers helped extract a mobile monitoring team after members were attacked near an alleged vote-buying headquarters in Ovča; several volunteers were injured. The article also reports an attack on monitors in Pančevo, harassment of a CRTA observer in Zemun, and tensions inside polling stations. A student controller said SNS representatives tried to obstruct some younger voters by questioning whether they resembled their ID photographs. Supporters also objected to curtained voting booths, saying they could enable illegal ballot photography used to verify pressured or paid votes. The supplied article text ends mid-sentence while introducing CRTA’s account of the most frequently observed irregularity.

The France 24 item, titled “Serbia's Vucic concedes defeat to the student-led movement: What's next?”, reports a major electoral victory for Serbia’s student-led protest movement. According to the article description, the movement won a parliamentary election, bringing an end to Aleksandar Vucic’s long rule and prompting mass celebrations. The victory marks a dramatic political change, but the report emphasizes that the result leaves important questions unresolved. The movement’s leaders have not yet been named, and they now face what the description calls a “long list of issues.” The title’s question—“What’s next?”—signals that the focus is not only on the election result but also on the challenges of turning a protest movement’s success into a political program and governing leadership. However, the supplied content does not specify those issues or explain how the movement plans to address them. France 24’s Angela Diffley provides analysis in a short video segment. The material provided here contains only the headline, a brief description, the video credit and date, and related-story links; it does not include a transcript or further details from Diffley’s analysis. Consequently, the report supports a concise account of the political transition and the uncertainty facing the student movement, but not more detailed conclusions about election results, policy priorities, or the next steps. The overall framing is analytical and forward-looking: it presents the movement’s win as historic while drawing attention to the responsibilities and unresolved questions that follow its victory.

The France 24 video report describes the celebratory atmosphere in Belgrade after a student-led movement defeated the party of Serbian right-wing populist Aleksandar Vucic in a snap election. The report says emotions ran high on Monday, with drivers honking and passers-by raising three fingers—a gesture associated in this account with the winning list’s ballot number and a Serbian greeting. Many people displayed badges and other symbols of the student movement, underscoring its visible presence in the capital after the electoral result. The report also highlights a change in the city’s public space: a large group of residents spent the day cleaning a park situated between parliament and the presidency. Vucic loyalists had occupied the park for more than a year, but left after the election result. Their departure and the cleanup are presented as part of the immediate post-election scene, alongside public celebration. France 24 correspondent Mark Owen speaks with researchers and political activist Aleksandar Matković. The supplied article text does not include their interview comments, detailed election figures, the movement’s policy platform, or an account of what governing would involve. Although the headline says the student movement “eyes power,” the available description mainly documents the election upset and the reactions in Belgrade; it does not explain the movement’s next political steps. Overall, the report conveys a moment of political change through street-level observations and identifies the student-led movement’s defeat of Vucic’s party as the central event.

Serbia’s newly formed Student List won more than half the votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election, defeating the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and ending more than a decade of dominance by Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia’s long-serving populist leader. The result prompted celebrations in Belgrade, where people honked car horns, waved the Student List’s three-finger salute and gathered in the streets. Volunteers also cleaned up a pro-government camp near the National Assembly, with one describing the victory as “the smell of freedom.” The Student List grew out of a youth-led protest movement and entered the election without an established hierarchy, leader or governing experience. Most opposition parties stood aside to give it a clearer path to victory. Before the vote, the outcome was difficult to predict because reliable opinion polls were unavailable. Vučić had held senior office since his party came to power in 2012 and cultivated ties with Russia while also pursuing EU membership talks and closer relations with the United States. A controversial agreement with Jared Kushner to develop a Trump International Hotel on the site of government buildings bombed in 1999 fell apart after legal troubles. Vučić’s image as a strong leader was further damaged by the November 2024 collapse of a railway-station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people. The disaster, at a facility tied to a major infrastructure project, prompted protests over alleged corruption and helped inspire the Student List. The movement’s incoming lawmakers include academics, athletes, economists and engineers. Their diversity may pose governing challenges: regional policy expert Kurt Bassuener cautioned that divisions within a broad coalition could emerge and said it was unclear who would hold which positions. For the moment, however, supporters are celebrating a dramatic political change.

Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s dominant political figure for more than 14 years, conceded defeat after a student-led movement-backed political force won the October 25 snap parliamentary election. The article traces Vucic’s journey from an ultra-nationalist ally of Slobodan Milosevic—serving as information minister in 1998 and later supporting the Serbian Radical Party—to co-founding the conservative, pro-European Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in 2008. The SNS won in 2012 and subsequently dominated Serbian politics; Vucic held several senior government roles before becoming president in 2017. Vucic’s supporters credited him with stability, development, patriotism, investment and improved living standards in a country shaped by the 1990s wars and international isolation. He promoted infrastructure projects, including Belgrade’s waterfront development and preparations for Expo 2027, while presenting himself as a defender of Serbian sovereignty. He also tried to balance Serbia’s European Union ambitions with its close relationship with Russia. Critics, however, regarded him as increasingly authoritarian and accused his government of corruption. The article notes that he did not clearly distance himself from nationalist associations or condemn Serbs convicted of wartime atrocities. His ministers’ attendance at a funeral gathering for Ratko Mladic also drew criticism from Brussels. Public anger intensified in 2024, when a concrete canopy at a recently renovated train station collapsed, killing 16 people. The disaster revived accusations of corruption surrounding government projects and prompted student-led demonstrations demanding transparent investigations. The protests drew hundreds of thousands and became the largest since the Milosevic era. Authorities and Vucic’s allies pushed back, portraying student blockaders as agents of foreign powers. Vucic eventually called snap elections in September, meeting a central student demand. He had said the protests would end on election day; after the vote, he acknowledged that his party had lost.

Serbia’s student-led Student List has won a parliamentary election, ending Aleksandar Vucic’s long rule, but the movement’s incoming leaders face significant foreign-policy, economic and governance challenges. The article outlines five areas they must address. On Kosovo, the Student List regards the territory—which declared independence in 2008—as part of Serbia. It has proposed peaceful reintegration while prioritising the Serbian population in northern Kosovo and Serbian-backed institutions there. Its rejection of agreements with Pristina could complicate relations with Kosovo and conflict with a key condition for Serbia’s accession to the European Union: normalising relations with Pristina. EU membership talks are already stalled amid insufficient reforms, and the movement has deferred a definitive public decision on membership until after domestic reforms and negotiations. The new government would also have to manage ties with Russia and the United States. The Student List opposes imposing EU sanctions on Moscow, while Serbia depends on Russian gas and faces US sanctions affecting NIS, its sole oil-refining company. The government would rely on US waivers while Russia’s stake in NIS is expected to be sold to Hungary’s MOL. The movement says Serbia’s energy dependence is economic rather than geopolitical and has pledged to stop arms exports to war zones, including sales routed to Ukraine through Western intermediaries. Domestically, the Student List proposes extensive anti-corruption measures: restructuring police accountability, removing officers linked to organised crime or protest crackdowns, replacing political appointments at state-owned companies with merit-based hiring, auditing and recovering illicit wealth, and increasing scrutiny of infrastructure contracts. Vucic, his SNS party and authorities have denied allegations of corruption and repression. Economically, Serbia is closely connected to European markets and international investment. The IMF forecasts growth of 3% in 2026 and 4% in 2027, while inflation rose to 4.1% in September. The movement proposes reducing reliance on state-backed infrastructure and cheap labour, tackling retail monopolies and food prices, changing taxes, strengthening labour rights, and investing in affordable housing, free textbooks and subsidised medication.

The Kremlin responded to the defeat of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) by praising Vucic’s contribution to ties between Serbia and Russia and expressing hope that Serbia’s incoming leaders would preserve cooperation with Moscow. The student-backed protest movement’s strong performance in the parliamentary election leaves Russia without another important European partner, following the defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Moscow ally, six months earlier. Vucic, a frequent visitor to Moscow who had been a central figure in Serbian politics as president or prime minister since 2014, conceded defeat in Belgrade. His loss prompted celebrations across Serbia, but the article says it remained unclear how the new student-backed leaders would govern. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had taken note of the election result. He praised Vucic and hoped he would continue to support bilateral relations while in opposition. Peskov also urged the incoming political forces to recognize that cooperation with Russia benefits Serbia, and said Moscow would continue working to develop relations with Belgrade—while noting that such efforts require both sides. Serbia’s position is significant because it aspires to join the European Union but did not join EU-backed sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine. It has maintained close economic, political and military ties with Moscow, which has traditionally been a vital energy supplier. The election therefore raises uncertainty about the future of a relationship important to both countries and represents a geopolitical setback for Russia in Europe.

Serbia’s student-backed Students’ List celebrated a major victory in a snap parliamentary election on Oct. 25, 2026, after veteran leader Aleksandar Vucic’s party was defeated. Celebrations spread across Belgrade and other cities soon after Vucic conceded, with supporters waving Serbian flags, setting off fireworks and flares, gathering in public squares, and chanting “Victory, victory!” Some described the result as a chance for Serbia to become free of tyranny. The election capped nearly two years of student-led protests that began after a canopy collapsed at Novi Sad railway station in 2024, killing 16 people. The disaster was widely blamed on corruption and prompted some of the country’s largest demonstrations since Slobodan Milosevic fell from power in 2000. At the Students’ List headquarters, supporters embraced and cried with joy. Candidate and university professor Radomir Saicic urged them to celebrate peacefully and said that the serious work of building a country where the law applies equally to everyone would begin the next day. Meanwhile, crowds entered a park opposite parliament where a pro-government encampment had stood for months, dismantling the remaining tents. One tent was set on fire, but no clashes were reported. Riot-police trucks leaving the city centre were cheered by crowds. Students’ List candidate and University of Arts rector Mirjana Nikolic credited young people with making the victory possible. Broadcasters showed celebrations elsewhere, including a gathering of thousands in Novi Sad, where the protest movement began.

Serbia’s student-led Student List won a snap parliamentary election, ending Aleksandar Vucic’s 12-year period of political dominance. The movement received more than two million votes, enough for a simple majority in the 250-seat parliament. Vucic conceded defeat after turnout reached 69 per cent, the country’s highest in 33 years. He had called the early election after months of protests and had hoped to return to power as prime minister after resigning as president; that strategy failed. The protests began after a train station canopy collapsed in 2024, killing 16 people. Students blamed corruption and official incompetence for the disaster, and the Student List built support by pledging to combat graft and democratic backsliding. Its representatives have also promised judicial reform, better election conditions, more media diversity, an end to monopolies, and reviews of major infrastructure contracts, including the $2.4 billion Expo 2027 project. Serbia’s corruption score in Transparency International’s 2025 index was its lowest in two decades. The result will reshape Serbia’s political landscape. The Socialists, previously led by Slobodan Milosevic, lost parliamentary representation for the first time in 18 years, while many established political groups were displaced. Vucic accused European countries and an American “deep state” of supporting the Student List, but offered no evidence, and vowed to return to power. The movement’s next steps remain uncertain: it has no single leader, its members have limited governing experience, and it has not named a prime ministerial candidate. A Croatian political analyst warned that organising the transfer of power could be difficult and that Vucic might seek to obstruct it. The movement has been cautious about contentious foreign-policy questions, including Kosovo and sanctions on Russia; EU membership is not an immediate priority. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the change and offered EU support for reforms.