Aleksandar Vučić Concedes Defeat as Student List Wins Serbia’s Snap Parliamentary Election

Vučić concedes, Students win

Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat on Sunday in Serbia’s snap parliamentary election, telling supporters, “It is clear that we have lost these elections.”

Vučić said the Student List would win between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-member parliament, while his Serbian Progressive Party list would win 105, and he added, “The Student List has won.”

+1Student List projected win7 of 11 outlets reported it · not in Al Jazeera and 3 more▾

Belgrade resident Dragana Kovacevic said, “everyone greets with smiles,” after crowds flooded the streets of Belgrade and other Serbian cities.

Radomir Sajcic, speaking on behalf of the students at their headquarters, said, “Tonight we celebrate victory. Tomorrow we build the future.”

Reporting for this sectionAP NewsABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Protests, police, turnout

The student-led protest movement that challenged Vučić’s government had been triggered by the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad in 2024 that killed 16 people, and it grew into nationwide anticorruption protests. Police wearing riot helmets and carrying shields were deployed near the election commission headquarters in Belgrade, where roads were closed and barricades erected.

+4Novi Sad canopy killed 1610 of 10 outlets reported it▾

CeSID had received about 260 reports of potential irregularities by 5pm, including ballot photography, group voting and difficulties with identification checks. CRTA said its observers recorded pressure on voters or election workers at almost a third of the 500 polling stations it monitored, and it also reported failures to protect ballot secrecy.

Reporting for this sectionAl Jazeera

Next steps and tensions

The Students’ platform said it warned “all Belgrade citizens not to gather near places where there has been a greater police presence and non-uniformed people.” The Student List had not run as a conventional party, but as a civic platform focused on fighting corruption, transparency and accountability.

Diari ARA quoted Katarina Scepanovic saying, “There will be no violence on our part. AP News reported that Vucic blamed Serbia’s independent media as well as alleged interference by unnamed European countries and an ”American deep state” for the loss, while supporters of the Students’ List drove around Belgrade honking and chanting “Aleksandar is gone.”

Reporting for this sectionDiari ARAAP News