Serbia’s student-led movement secured 53 percent of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election, ending 14 years of right-wing populist rule under Aleksandar Vucic’s party, according to independent electoral watchdog CeSID figures. Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party garnered almost 39 percent based on 96 percent of the count, dramatically altering the Balkan nation's political makeup.
Celebrations in Belgrade and Institutional Cleanup
Emotions ran high in Belgrade on Monday as a celebratory mood gripped the capital, with drivers honking their horns and passers-by holding up three fingers, representing both the winning list’s ballot number and a Serbian greeting, FRANCE 24 reported. A large number of locals displayed emblems and badges connected to the student movement, while numerous individuals utilized the day to tidy up a green space situated between the presidency and parliament following the departure of Vucic supporters who had occupied the site for upward of a year.
The political upset was driven by near-record turnout of almost 70 percent, marking the country’s highest participation rate at a parliamentary election in more than three decades and surpassing the 1993 parliamentary election, when just over 61 percent voted.
Origins of the Movement and the Novi Sad Disaster
The victory followed nearly two years of anti-government demonstrations sparked by the 2024 collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station that killed 16 people. The disaster was widely blamed on corruption, triggering some of the largest protests in Serbia since the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.
Most candidates on the student list are experts from fields including academia and the arts with little political experience. The platform focused primarily on fighting corruption, demanding a transparent investigation into the Novi Sad tragedy, and pushing for institutional reform and the rule of law rather than focusing heavily on foreign policy, according to political analyst Dusan Vucicevic.
Vucic Blames Foreign Powers After Election Defeat
After yielding the election within two hours of the polls closing, Vucic attributed the final tally to outside interference, informing his followers that the outcome confirmed a revolution engineered with active backing from multiple European nations alongside the US deep state. Meanwhile, the Kremlin stated on Monday that it hoped Serbia’s new leaders would recognize that cooperation with Russia is in Serbia’s interests, because it brings benefits to Serbia.
The election results give the Students’ List 140 MPs in the 250-seat assembly, while the Serbian Progressive Party secured 103 seats, with no other parties passing the threshold to enter parliament. Radomir Saicic, a candidate for the list, told supporters late Sunday that students had won alongside the hope that Serbia can be a country of justice, freedom and dignity.
