Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia’s dominant political figure for over a decade, conceded defeat on Sunday night after a snap parliamentary election handed a majority to a youth-backed opposition bloc known as the Student List, according to CBC News and France 24.

Preliminary results put the Student List on between 135 and 140 of the 250 seats in parliament, with Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS, trailing on around 104 to 105 seats. Turnout was close to 70 percent, the highest recorded since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991-1992, France 24 reported.

It is clear that we have lost these elections, the Student List has won, — Aleksandar Vučić, leader of the Serbian Progressive Party

Two years of protest

The vote caps nearly two years of unrest that began in November 2024, when a concrete canopy collapsed at Novi Sad railway station, killing 16 people. Protesters blamed corruption and lax construction oversight, and the anger grew into one of the largest sustained protest movements in Serbia’s post-Yugoslav history. By March 2025, demonstrations had spread to roughly 400 towns and cities, with crowds reaching 325,000 people, according to the Platform for Peace and Humanity.

Vučić called the snap election in September 2026 and resigned the presidency on 27 September to run for prime minister instead, a move widely seen as an attempt to reassert his authority directly through the party ticket rather than the presidency.

Candidates on the Student List were notably not, for the most part, current university students. The slate instead included little-known professionals, athletes, farmers and artists, alongside figures such as Ilija Srdanovic, who emerged as one of its leading voices.

Dear Serbia, tonight the voice of the people is being heard, — Radomir Sajcic, professor at Belgrade University, speaking for the Student List

EU reaction and what comes next

The election was closely watched in Brussels, where Serbia holds EU candidate status, after previous votes in the country had been clouded by allegations of irregularities. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated the Student List, saying that “the people of Serbia turned out in record numbers to shape their country’s future,” according to a Reuters report carried by Internazionale. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos also welcomed the result.

Celebrations followed in Belgrade and Novi Sad after Vučić’s concession, as crowds gathered in scenes that mirrored the protests of the past two years. Serbia’s roughly 6.4 million registered voters now face a transition that will test whether a coalition built largely from political newcomers can govern a country long dominated by a single party and its leader.

This article is free to read. It always will be — no paywall, no account, no tracking.