Serbia has a new political era. The student-led protest movement that has shaken the country for nearly two years has won a historic parliamentary election, ending the long rule of populist leader Aleksandar Vucic.
The result
Projections from polling agencies Ipsos and CeSID put the "Student List" at about 52% of the vote, well ahead of Vucic's SNS-led coalition at 39.3%. On his own party's sample of the count, Vucic said the students would win between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-member National Assembly, against about 105 for his coalition — a clear absolute majority. Partial results put the student list at 140 seats and Vucic's coalition at 104.
Vucic concedes
In a televised speech on election night, Sunday 25 October, Vucic admitted defeat: "It is clear that we have lost these elections, the Student List has won." Within moments, the streets of Belgrade erupted in celebration, with tens of thousands of people thronging the city's main boulevards, cars honking and students shouting "victory".
How the students got here
Vucic, who has dominated Serbian politics as prime minister or president since 2014, called snap elections in September after almost two years of student-led demonstrations against perceived corruption and creeping authoritarianism. The protests were triggered by the deaths of 16 people when a train station canopy collapsed in the city of Novi Sad in 2024.
What happens next
The Student List will now form the next majority in parliament. European leaders congratulated the movement on its victory, among them European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos. The win is reminiscent of the defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orban in April, and may offer a blueprint for other student movements across Europe.
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