Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic concedes parliamentary election to student-led opposition after 14 years in power

What happened

Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's long-serving leader, conceded defeat Sunday in a parliamentary election against a student-led opposition movement that had protested his government for two years, CBS News and PBS NewsHour reported. PBS NewsHour, publishing Associated Press reporting, called the result a seismic political shift in a Balkan country where Vucic held virtually absolute power for 14 years.

"The Students' List has won," Vucic told supporters at his party's election night event. He announced the outcome about an hour and a half after polls closed. He blamed Serbia's independent media, alleged interference by unnamed European countries and an "American deep state" for the loss.

The numbers behind the result

Seats in Parliament

Serbia's 6.4 million voters were choosing members of the 250-member Parliament. Vucic said his Serbian Progressive Party, known as SNS, projects that the Students' List will take between 135 and 140 seats, while SNS will hold around 105.

Votes and turnout

By Vucic's count, SNS won around 1.7 million votes and the Students' List around 2.2 million. Monitors predicted turnout could reach around 70%, a level not seen in Serbia since 2000, according to both outlets. Long lines formed at polling places in Serbia and abroad, and some voters in the Serbian diaspora had to cast ballots in the middle of the night because voting hours were tied to local Serbian time.

How the movement got here

A deadly collapse sparked protests

Support for Vucic eroded after 16 people were killed in 2024 when a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Novi Sad. A wave of youth protests followed, blaming the collapse on high-level corruption, cronyism and graft during renovation work at the station, the outlets reported.

Dijana Hrka, the mother of one of the victims, joined the celebrating crowd in Belgrade. "I have been waiting for this moment for two years," she told N1 television, according to PBS NewsHour.

Candidates who were not students

University students shaped the Students' List, but none appeared on its election list. Its candidates were little-known experts, athletes, farmers and artists, an approach meant to counter Vucic's one-man rule. The campaign focused on a non-partisan effort to rebuild the economy and restore democracy, and students cycled and walked across the country to reach rural voters in Vucic's traditional strongholds.

Vucic, who had been endorsed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, denounced the movement as a foreign-led attempt to unseat him. After two near-full terms as president, he resigned last month to lead the campaign as he sought to become prime minister.

Tension and irregularities on election day

Police in anti-riot gear cordoned off the area around the election commission headquarters in central Belgrade, and large groups of black-clad men gathered at points around the city, the outlets reported. After the result, Students' List supporters filled the streets of Belgrade and other cities, chanting "Aleksandar is gone." PBS NewsHour reported that crowds took down fences and tents at a central Belgrade park where Vucic loyalists had camped for over a year.

Independent election monitors reported dozens of irregularities Sunday, including photographing of ballots that suggested pressure on voters and attempted vote buying. International and local monitors had raised concerns about a campaign marked by detentions, near-total government control over the media, and reports of surveillance and cyberattacks against activists.

Wider context in Europe

Both outlets said the result echoed the recent electoral defeat in Hungary of Vucic ally Viktor Orbán, where youth participation helped oust him after 16 years and bring in a new pro-European government. They wrote that it was likely to resonate as countries across Europe have faced angry youth and student protests. We recently covered protests in several European cities.

Serbia is a candidate for European Union membership, and the EU was closely watching the conduct of the vote after recent Serbian elections were marred by irregularities. Local elections earlier this year in 10 municipalities saw violent attacks on journalists and activists, and the 2023 parliamentary vote was followed by opposition protests alleging fraud.

What to watch next

• Final seat totals, since the 135 to 140 seats for the Students' List and around 105 for SNS are projections Vucic announced from his party.
• How the EU, which was closely watching the vote in a membership candidate nation, assesses the conduct of the election.
• Follow-up on the dozens of irregularities independent monitors reported, including ballot photographing and attempted vote buying.
• Whether there is accountability over the 2024 Novi Sad canopy collapse, which a victim's mother told N1 television she now expects.