Vucic Concedes Defeat to Student List in Serbia's Record-Turnout Election

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat in parliamentary elections on Sunday, saying the student-led protest movement had won. Speaking before final results were available, he said a sample of the vote made the outcome clear. "We have lost these elections, the Student List has won," he said, adding that the students would hold between 135 and 140 seats and his side 105. He said no other party had entered parliament.

The snap vote was called by Vucic in September. It followed almost two years of demonstrations against perceived corruption and creeping authoritarianism, which were set off by the 2024 collapse of a station canopy in Novi Sad that killed 16 people. The protesters have since built broad public support and become the biggest challenge to Vucic since he first became prime minister in 2014 and then president in 2017.

Turnout was historic. Long lines formed outside polling stations in cities and towns nationwide, and Vucic himself waited nearly two hours to cast his ballot. Pollsters and monitors CeSID and Ipsos put participation at 67.6% by 7 p.m., the highest since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992. Voter Katarina Petrovic said the turnout did not surprise her, because a large and strong movement had formed over the past two years.

A student win would mark a deep political shift in the Balkan country of about 6 million people. It would recall the defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orban in April, and it could offer a model for student movements elsewhere in Europe, which have taken to the streets in recent weeks over poor education standards and a lack of prospects.

Opinion polls before the vote had predicted a tight race for the 250-seat parliament. Vucic campaigned on higher pensions and public sector pay and more investment in state healthcare. Abroad, he has pursued closer ties with China, a major investor, while staying close to Russia, Serbia's traditional ally and main gas supplier. He says he still wants EU membership, though the bloc, Serbia's largest trading partner, has grown frustrated with the lack of reform.

The students' list of 250 largely unknown candidates includes university professors, actors and farmers, and is led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic. Their platform focuses on rooting out graft and improving schooling, and they have said less about foreign policy. It is also unclear who would become prime minister if they win. After voting in Novi Sad, Srdanovic said he hoped the day would pass peacefully and that a new government would be elected legitimately.

Vucic had said after voting that he would respect the result. "If we lose we will acknowledge the will of the electorate, if we win no one will take it (from us)," he said. Election Commission head Vladimir Dimitrijevic said voting passed without incident, though police cordoned off the road leading to the commission building. Monitoring bodies CeSID and CRTA pointed to problems involving the electoral roll and the secrecy of voting.

Rights groups and activists say repression has worsened since the protests began. Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly denied accusations of repression, corruption and spying on opponents, and Vucic says the students are funded by foreign agents in Croatia and Montenegro, a claim the students reject. Actor Jelena Stupljanin, 48, said at a Belgrade polling station that people had waited decades for something that brings hope of living freely under democratic rules.