Student List Wins 52.65% of Vote in Serbia as Vučić Concedes Defeat
Key Facts
Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat for his list in Serbia’s parliamentary election after preliminary results published on October 26 showed the youth-backed student list leading with 52.65% of the vote. The Serbian government, citing election commission data, said the list received 2,246,423 votes based on figures from 8,135 polling stations. By contrast, the “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia” list received 1,673,241 votes, equivalent to 39.22%. The results were still preliminary when announced, while Vučić said on election night that his list had lost and the student list had won. The result marks the end of a 14-year period in which his party governed the country, and opens the way for a transfer of power and the formation of a new government.
Vučić had offered a preliminary estimate of seats on election night, saying the student list could win between 135 and 140 seats, compared with about 105 for his list. The Associated Press noted that these figures were projections announced by Vučić, not a final official seat count. In a separate tally published by Reuters after nearly 99% of the votes had been counted, student candidates received 52.7% against 39.2% for the Serbian Progressive Party alliance. Reuters estimated that the students would hold 139 of the 250 seats, compared with 97 for the alliance. These estimates show the scale of the gap between the lists, while the preliminary official figures published on October 26 remain presented in terms of votes and their shares.
A total of 4,211,957 voters took part in the vote, according to preliminary election commission data, putting turnout at 68.78%. The vote followed the presidency’s dissolution of the parliament elected on December 17, 2023, and the setting of October 25, 2026, as the date for the early parliamentary election. Vučić had called for an early election in September, after about two years of student-led protests. The protests intensified after a railway station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in 2024, killing 16 people. Demonstrators protested corruption and cronyism linked to the station’s renovation work, while support for Vučić eroded after the disaster.
The result’s backdrop extended to Vučić’s political career, during which he served as deputy prime minister, prime minister and president over 14 years. He resigned as president in September and ran in the October election as a prime ministerial candidate, according to the Associated Press. After he conceded defeat, tens of thousands took to the streets of Belgrade and Serbian cities and towns to celebrate on Sunday evening. Vučić said he would continue his work from the opposition, describing his party’s structure as cohesive, united, strong and accustomed to opposition. That puts the party that dominated Serbian politics in a new role, as the winning list prepares to turn its votes into a government and governing programme.
The winning student movement faces the task of choosing a prime minister and forming a government, but the identities of the prime minister and key ministers had not been settled, according to Reuters. The agency also noted that the movement has no clear leader and that its domestic agenda includes fighting corruption and improving education. On ties with the European Union, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was ready to support reforms to the rule of law, media freedom and the fight against corruption, as well as stronger democratic institutions. She called for work to advance Serbia’s future within the bloc, but the election result alone does not settle the course of foreign policy or the conditions for accession. The campaign avoided some contentious foreign policy issues, while its position on Kosovo could conflict with EU accession requirements.
Serbia is due to hold a separate presidential election in December to choose Vučić’s successor, alongside the start of forming a new government. The student list’s leadership will have to settle the allocation of posts and agree on its domestic programme, while the future of foreign relations remains under scrutiny. The winning movement does not intend to join the European Union’s sanctions on Russia and has signalled continued ties with Moscow, according to available coverage. On the economic front, the International Monetary Fund forecast in June that Serbia’s economy would grow 2.8% in 2026, after 2% growth in 2025, before accelerating to 4.0% in 2027. The fund warned that risks to the outlook were tilted to the downside amid growing domestic and external headwinds and elevated uncertainty.