Serbia's Vucic Concedes Defeat as Student List Wins Snap Election

Aleksandar Vucic, the man who shaped Serbian political life for more than a decade, has lost snap parliamentary elections to a student-led movement that spent almost two years leading protests against him. Voter turnout in Sunday's vote reached its highest level in more than 30 years.

Speaking to supporters, the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) conceded defeat. "It is clear that we have lost these elections," he said, after a sample of votes indicated his list would take 105 seats in the 250-member parliament. The Student List was projected to win between 135 and 140.

The movement began after 16 people died when a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024. The youth-led protests widened into a broader wave of social unrest and later became the Student List political platform, which pledged to fight corruption, depoliticise public institutions and restore citizens' rights. Ilija Srdanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, led the movement during the campaign.

Vucic called the demonstrators, who included university professors, doctors and workers, "blockaders" and accused them of trying to destabilise Serbia.

Born in Belgrade in 1970, Vucic studied law at the University of Belgrade and entered politics in 1993 by joining the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, led by Vojislav Seselj. His 1990s record was marked by nationalist rhetoric. In July 1995, nine days after the Srebrenica genocide, he told parliament: "Kill one Serb, and we will kill 100 Muslims." Seselj was later sentenced, in 2018, to 10 years in prison for persecution, deportation and forcible transfer of non-Serbs during the Balkan wars. Seselj's son Aleksandar appeared on Vucic's list in this election.

Vucic and Tomislav Nikolic founded the SNS in 2008 after a split in the Radical Party, aiming to move closer to mainstream European politics. Journalist Safeta Bisevac said Vucic was initially less popular than Nikolic and was "essentially the organiser" of the new party. The SNS took power in 2012 promising to fight corruption and organised crime. Bisevac said the results were modest while authorities widened their grip on institutions, the media and political life.

Vucic served as first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014, then as prime minister, and became president in 2017, winning re-election in 2022. His term was due to run until 2027. Under pressure from the protests, he resigned in September and called early elections, though he had kept a dominant influence over his party and state policy. "He made many promises and fulfilled few of them," Bisevac said, "but in the meantime, he established almost complete control over the state apparatus."

The economy grew considerably during his time at the centre of politics. According to official data cited by Reuters, unemployment fell from 26 percent to 8 to 9 percent, and nominal GDP nearly tripled to about 90 billion euros. Annual foreign direct investment climbed from roughly 800 million euros in 2012 to a record 5.2 billion euros in 2024, and a network of modern motorways was built. Still, higher wages have not necessarily brought a matching rise in living standards, and the cost of living and public debt remain central to the debate over his record.

Political scientist Dusko Radosavljevic said the students "simply gave a voice to the justified anger of citizens." He described the past decade as one of "systematic pressure and the destruction of social institutions," adding that intelligence services spent more time monitoring political opponents while critical thinking was pushed out of public media.