What changed
Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat in Serbia’s snap parliamentary election to the student-led Student List movement. Speaking on 25 October 2026, he said preliminary results made it clear that his Serbian Progressive Party had lost.
The election followed two years of protests after the 2024 collapse of a train-station canopy in Novi Sad killed 16 people. Preliminary figures showed 64.9% turnout by 18:00 local time, with long queues reported in Serbia and abroad.
Why it matters
This is a striking transfer of political power: a movement formed through street protests has now beaten Serbia’s long-standing governing party at the ballot box.
The Student List is unusual even by protest-movement standards. It has no obvious leader and drew candidates from across Serbian society, including doctors, actors, academics and sports personalities. Its campaign promised to remove officials who broke rules, curb political control of the public broadcaster, stop party loyalists leading public enterprises and change how protesters are policed.
That gives the victory a clear test. The movement can no longer campaign only against Vučić and the Serbian Progressive Party; it must turn demands about corruption and institutions into a functioning government. Final results, the number of parliamentary seats and the coalition that follows are still unsettled. Its ability to manage that transition remains uncertain.
For now, the political fact is simpler. Vučić, who had served two presidential terms and was seeking a return as prime minister, has acknowledged that voters rejected his party. In Belgrade and Novi Sad, celebrations carried the message into the streets: the protest movement has become the country’s incoming political force.
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