"Serbia is free": student movement beats Vučić's party in snap election, preliminary results show

Serbia’s long-dominant leader, Aleksandar Vučić, has conceded defeat to a student-led protest movement in snap parliamentary elections, according to preliminary results.

“It is clear we have lost these elections,” Mr Vučić told supporters at the Belgrade headquarters of his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the BBC reported. The Guardian quoted him as saying: “We still do not have final results.”

The numbers so far

On Monday evening, the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) published preliminary results from 8,187 polling stations. They show the Student List winning 2,267,615 votes (52.71%) and 140 seats. The “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia” list had 1,685,022 votes (39.17%) and 104 seats, according to a government statement.

Four national minority lists won a combined six seats, and the “Ivica Dačić – Factor of Stability” list won none. A majority in the 250-seat National Assembly requires 126 seats.

These figures are preliminary and the final seat count could change. Earlier projections from the pollster CeSID-IPSPS put the Student List on 138 seats, the Guardian reported. CeSID and Ipsos put turnout at 67.6% by 19:00 local time, the highest since 1992.

A movement born from a disaster

The movement formed after a concrete canopy collapsed at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, killing 16 people. The protesters blame the disaster on corruption and negligence.

Mr Vučić and the SNS have repeatedly denied corruption, the BBC reported. Mr Vučić had also accused the students of being stooges of foreign powers, a charge they dismissed, according to the Guardian.

The Student List fielded candidates from across Serbian society, including doctors, academics and sports figures. Its lead candidate, Ilija Srdanović, told BBC Serbian: “This will be a free state.” According to the BBC, its manifesto included removing officials who broke the rules in cracking down on protesters, stopping party loyalists from running public enterprises, and freeing the public broadcaster from political control.

“Serbia is free,” one student told the BBC. “It’s a miracle.”

Independent monitors reported irregularities on polling day. Raša Nedeljkov of the monitoring group CRTA said that “a large number of irregularities continue to be recorded”, the Guardian reported.

Brussels and Moscow

The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, said “a new chapter can begin for Serbia. The door to the EU is open, and we are ready to move forward together”, according to the BBC.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, praised Mr Vučić’s contribution to relations with Russia. He said he hoped “the new political force” would understand that co-operation with Moscow was in Serbia’s interests, the BBC reported, adding: “But, as you know, it takes two to tango.”

Mr Vučić backed Serbia’s bid to join the EU while refusing to impose sanctions on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

What happens next

Several questions remain open:

• The final results. RIK has published only preliminary figures.
• Who becomes prime minister. The Student List has no obvious leaders, the BBC noted, and has not yet named its candidate.
• The presidency. Mr Vučić resigned as president last month to call the snap election, according to the Guardian. Presidential elections are due in December, and the parliament speaker, Ana Brnabić, is acting as caretaker president, the BBC reported.

These are the preliminary results as reported on Monday 26 October. RealTeaNews will update this story when the final count is published.