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Serbia’s student-led movement won Sunday's snap parliamentary election, ending 14 years in power for Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) after nearly two years of protests.
Vucic conceded less than two hours after polls closed, as thousands poured into the streets of Belgrade and other cities to celebrate amid the highest turnout in more than three decades.
"Based on the stratified sample, it is clear that we have lost these elections," Vucic told supporters at his party headquarters in Belgrade.
"Preliminary results show that students are convincingly leading in almost all polling stations," Radomir Saicic, a candidate on the Students' List, said at the movement’s election headquarters.
"Students won and with them also a hope that Serbia can be a country of justice, freedom and dignity," he added.
The student-backed list was projected to win 139 seats in the 250-member National Assembly, compared with 104 for Vucic’s "United Serbia" coalition, according to Ipsos and the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), based on about 60% of the processed sample.
A majority requires 126 seats.
Ipsos and CeSID projected 52 percent of the vote for the student-backed list and 39.3% for Vucic’s coalition. Election monitor CRTA put the figures at 51.47% and 40.42%.
Vucic said his opponents would take 135 to 140 seats and his party around 105. He said SNS won around 1.7 million votes against around 2.2 million for the Students' List.
The Socialist Party of Serbia-led coalition of Ivica Dacic was projected at 2.3%, below the 3% threshold, potentially leaving the party out of parliament for the first time in more than three decades.
Results remain preliminary pending confirmation by the Republic Electoral Commission.
Vucic, 56, blamed foreign powers for the result without providing evidence.
"I want people to know, this was the validation of a revolution carried out with the direct support of various European countries and the US deep state, the one that is also against President Trump," he said.
"We don’t have the results yet. Many will be surprised, and you will realize how much some people have lied," Vucic added.
Vucic resigned the presidency last month to run for prime minister after calling the snap vote, citing "major turbulence on the domestic political scene."
Turnout was estimated at nearly 70%, according to Ipsos and CeSID, exceeding about 58.7% in December 2023. It was the highest parliamentary turnout in more than three decades.
"I feel incredible," student Mila Martic told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "I feel as though I am finally living in a free country."
"Serbia has won as we promised. Never again a tyrant in this country!" Saicic told supporters. "Tonight we celebrate the best way Serbia knows, with song, dance, hugs and tears of joy. Tomorrow the work starts, serious, responsible hard work to build Serbia in which the law applies equally to everyone."
"This is a victory of courage over fear, a victory of hope over indifference, a victory of the belief that Serbia can and must be different," he added.
"A two-year-long dream has come true," said Mirjana Nikolic, a Students’ List candidate and rector of the University of Arts.
Crowds dismantled a pro-government encampment across from parliament, and one tent was set on fire. A group of young people threw rocks at withdrawing police vehicles.
"I have been waiting for this moment for two years," Dijana Hrka, mother of a Novi Sad victim, told N1 television. "Now I expect that they will all be held accountable."
The protests began after a concrete canopy at the renovated Novi Sad railway station collapsed in November 2024, killing 16 people. The disaster was widely blamed on corruption and triggered Serbia’s largest protests since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.
The Students’ List candidates are mostly experts, academics, artists, athletes and farmers with little political experience. No students appeared on the list itself.
"We stand ready to support reforms on the rule of law, media freedom, the fight against corruption and strong democratic institutions, and to work together to advance Serbia’s future in the European Union," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X.
"I was delighted to hear how much strength our victory in April had given them during this difficult struggle," Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said. Vucic’s defeat follows that of his ally Viktor Orban in Hungary.
Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic said he expected a new chapter in relations, while Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik congratulated the list and thanked Vucic for his support to Republika Srpska.
Minority lists were also projected to win seats, including three for the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians and one each for lists led by Rasim Ljajic and the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak.
The Serbia election marked the country’s 15th parliamentary vote since multiparty politics returned in 1990.
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