Serbia's Students' List wins snap vote, ending 14-year Vucic era

Serbia's student-led movement swept Sunday's snap parliamentary election, ending Aleksandar Vucic's 14-year grip on the country and projecting between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-seat parliament, according to preliminary figures cited by Vucic himself in his concession speech.

Vucic conceded defeat less than two hours after polls closed, triggering celebrations in Belgrade's streets as thousands gathered, cars honking and fireworks lighting the skyline. Turnout reached nearly 65 percent of the country's 6.4 million registered voters by 6pm — two hours before polls closed — surpassing the 1993 parliamentary election, when just over 61 percent voted, making it the highest turnout in more than three decades.

The uprising traces back to the November 2024 collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station that killed 16 people, widely blamed on corruption. Weeks of anti-government protests followed, culminating in a final pre-election rally in Belgrade that drew around 150,000 people according to an independent protest monitor.

Candidate Radomir Saicic told supporters at the movement's election headquarters that students had won "convincingly" at almost all polling stations. Student Mila Martic told AFP: "I feel as though I am finally living in a free country."

Vucic, who maintained close ties with Russia throughout his tenure, blamed foreign powers for the result, citing "direct support of various European countries and the US deep state."

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar both congratulated the Students' List, with Von der Leyen pledging EU support for rule-of-law reforms, media freedom and Serbia's European future.