Twelve-year Vucic rule in Serbia ends: Student List wins election

In early general elections held in Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who has been in power for 12 years, accepted defeat and announced that the Student List had won. Vucic claimed the election result was the product of a foreign-backed process and stated that they will continue to fight as the opposition.

The Center for Free Elections and Democracy CeSID announced that with 56 percent of votes counted, the Student List received 52 percent while the SNS list led by Vucic secured 39 percent. More than 6.4 million voters went to the polls by local time 20:00 to vote for the 250-seat National Assembly. The Serbian State Election Commission RIK announced that as of 19:00, voter turnout reached 67.6 percent; the country's media noted that this figure could reach record levels, with turnout in the 2023 elections at 58 percent.

Vucic, an important political figure in Serbia, was elected president twice consecutively in 2017 and 2022, after which he resigned from the presidency and became a prime ministerial candidate for this election. Coming to the office of prime minister in 2014, Vucic was among leaders who drew attention for his close relations with Israel. Vucic announced that Serbia would jointly produce combat drones with Israel and opened a new assembly factory for Israeli-made unmanned aerial vehicles. Vucic had used the term "my friend" for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Student List, which formed the political wing of the student movement, was established as a product of protests that began following the collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad train station on November 1, 2024, in which 16 people lost their lives. Radomir Saicic, an academic who delivered a victory speech on behalf of the Student List, thanked everyone who voted and said they would begin building the future. How the student movement, which differs from traditional party structures, will proceed with government formation remained a matter of speculation.

Violence occurred at some polling centers on election day; Serbia's Interior Ministry reported that 2 police officers were wounded in Lazarevac and that several people threw stones and hazardous materials at police. In some places, claims were shared about ballot photographs being taken and allegations that systems meant to prevent multiple voting were not used correctly. Meanwhile, a large number of armored police vehicles were observed on the streets of the capital Belgrade near the time polling stations closed.