Vucic Concedes Defeat as Student Movement Leads Serbia Election

Serbia's long-running political establishment faced a major setback Sunday as Aleksandar Vučić acknowledged that his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) had lost a fiercely contested parliamentary election to a student-backed movement. Preliminary results and unusually high voter participation pointed to a breakthrough for anti-corruption campaigners after two years of demonstrations triggered by a deadly railway station disaster.

Vučić announced the setback at his party headquarters in Belgrade, citing preliminary data. The election marked a critical challenge to the political dominance his party has maintained since 2012, according to reports from The Guardian and BBC.

"Based on a stratified sample, it is clear that we lost these elections," Vučić said.

Serbia's election commission recorded turnout of 64.9% by 18:00 local time, according to preliminary figures reported by BBC. By 19:00, election monitors CeSID and Ipsos estimated participation at 67.6%, the highest level since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, according to The Guardian.

The election followed the November 2024 collapse of a concrete canopy at Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people. Students initially protested the tragedy and concerns about construction standards and corruption, before their demonstrations expanded into a nationwide challenge to the government.

Student assemblies selected 250 candidates for the country's 250-seat parliament, bringing together academics, doctors, athletes, farmers and other professionals. Their platform included addressing corruption, removing officials accused of violating rules during crackdowns on protesters, limiting political appointments at public enterprises and reducing government influence over public broadcasting.

The movement campaigned under the slogan:

"Serbia or Mafia?"

Its candidates sought support in rural communities as well as major cities, challenging an incumbent party with extensive influence over broadcast media and state institutions. The students also organized election monitoring, with at least two observers assigned to each of Serbia's 8,210 polling stations, according to BBC.

Dejan Bodiroga, a candidate on the student-backed list and president of EuroLeague Basketball, described the vote as a choice over the country's political direction.

"Today, above all, Serbia is fighting for freedom and for the return of a country that has been hijacked," Bodiroga told reporters.

He cast his ballot in Belgrade as voters queued at polling stations across the country and abroad.

"Serbia is voting today to decide which direction it will take – towards the future or the past," Bodiroga said.

Election monitors raised concerns about possible violations, including pressure on voters, alleged vote-buying, ballot photographing and suspected chain voting. CRTA, an independent election-monitoring organization, also reported incidents of violence around polling stations.

CRTA representative Raša Nedeljkov described the problems observed during voting.

"A large number of irregularities continue to be recorded, while violent incidents outside polling stations are also becoming increasingly frequent," Nedeljkov said.

BBC separately reported that CRTA had documented a "large number of irregularities" and an increase in "violent incidents" outside polling stations. The news agency AFP reported that police had not confirmed any major election-related violence.

Social media videos from the southern city of Nis appeared to show ballot papers being completed in advance at a cafe, prompting allegations of chain voting. Reports also described attacks on election monitors and journalists at several polling stations.

Former Serbian deputy prime minister Žarko Korać characterized the student-led campaign as an unusual political development.

"We are witnessing a unique experiment in European contemporary history," Korać told BBC.

The movement's diverse candidate list has raised questions about how it would form and manage a government if it secured power. Korać highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the candidates' political experience and ability to work together.

"These are people that don't know each other, you have no idea what their political beliefs are, and we now expect them to create a functioning government. So it's anybody's guess what happens after they win," Korać said.

He also warned that a disputed result could deepen political uncertainty if the ruling party and the student movement both claimed victory.

"On the other hand, if Vučić declares victory this evening, probably late in the evening, I don't think the students will accept that," Korać said.

The BBC also spoke to Katarina, 29, who returned from the Netherlands to vote for the Student List despite having the option of voting remotely.

"I wanted to be a part of this, and I wanted to be part of a movement," she said.

Katarina believed the student candidates had a realistic opportunity to win but questioned whether the outcome would be respected by Vučić.

"I think they have a chance of winning," she said.

Asked about the candidates' limited political experience, she argued that their professional backgrounds could be an advantage.

"Just because they're politically inexperienced, they are experts in their own fields, which we have not seen thus far," Katarina said.

Vučić, 56, has served two terms as president and could not seek a third. He had left the prime minister's office in 2017 and was leading the SNS in an effort to return to that position. His supporters point to economic growth and infrastructure improvements during his party's time in power.

During the campaign, Vučić promised higher pensions, increased public-sector salaries and greater investment in state healthcare. He has supported Serbia's European Union candidacy while refusing to impose sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, seeking to maintain relations with both Western countries and Moscow.

The student movement emerged as a challenge to that political model, with its campaign linking the railway station disaster to broader concerns about accountability, public institutions and corruption. The election's preliminary figures indicated a significant shift in voter participation, while official final results remained the basis for determining the parliamentary balance of power.