Vucic Concedes Serbia Election Defeat as Student List Claims 135-140 Seats

Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat in Serbia’s snap parliamentary election, saying the opposition Student List had won an absolute majority with an estimated 135 to 140 seats in the 250-member National Assembly, potentially ending 14 years of rule by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

“We do not have the final results yet. Many will be surprised, and you will realize just how much some have lied. Based on a representative sample, it is clear that we have lost this election,” Vucic told reporters at the ruling party’s election headquarters.

The former Serbian president acknowledged that the Student List, which emerged from mass student protests following the deadly collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, had won the largest number of parliamentary seats.

“The Student List will hold between 135 and 140 mandates,” Vucic said.

He estimated that the coalition named Aleksandar Vucic – United Serbia would win about 105 seats. With 126 of the 250 seats required for an absolute majority, the projected result would allow the student-led movement to govern without support from other political forces.

Vucic put the Student List’s preliminary vote total at approximately 2.2 million, compared with around 1.72 million for the ruling coalition, a difference of nearly half a million votes. The estimates were based on a stratified sample of polling stations intended to reflect the nationwide result, rather than a full count. The figures are not official final results.

The projections differed sharply from the Republic Electoral Commission’s initial figures, which showed the ruling coalition with 54.69% of the vote and the Student List with 36.04% after results from just 203 polling stations had been processed. The commission is publishing results as polling-station protocols arrive, while Vucic’s estimates relied on a sample designed to represent the country as a whole. The final distribution of seats remains subject to confirmation by the commission.

Vucic said the Serbian Progressive Party would continue its work in opposition. “We will fight, and we will show them what it means to be the opposition,” he declared.

He also expressed pride in his party’s record and said its political structure remained united.

The snap election, called by Vucic in September, came after nearly two years of student-led demonstrations against perceived corruption and growing authoritarianism. The protests began after 16 people died when a concrete canopy collapsed at the railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024.

The Student List brought together candidates from academia, civil society, culture and sports, attracting support from a significant part of the traditional opposition. The election was widely viewed as a test of Vucic’s political dominance and the system that has shaped Serbia for more than a decade. Vucic first became prime minister in 2014 and president in 2017.

Turnout was unusually high. According to the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), 67.8% of eligible voters had cast ballots by 7 p.m., one hour before polling stations closed, compared with 55.5% at the same time during the 2023 parliamentary election.

Celebrations broke out in Belgrade and other Serbian cities after Vucic acknowledged the projected defeat, with crowds singing, chanting, lighting flares and sounding car horns.

By around 9:40 p.m. local time, hundreds of people had gathered along central streets in the capital. Motorists greeted the crowds with prolonged horn blasts as demonstrators lit flares. According to Serbian magazine Vreme, celebrations began around 9 p.m. at the intersection of Kralja Milana and Kneza Miloša streets.

People jumped, sang and chanted “Pump it! Pump it!”, a prominent slogan of the student protest movement. Other cries included “It’s over!” and “Vucic is leaving, Vucic is leaving!” Many of those celebrating believed the country was experiencing a historic political shift.

British newspaper The Guardian also reported jubilant scenes, describing people embracing in the streets, with some still finding it difficult to believe what was happening.

Celebrations spread beyond Belgrade. Serbian newspaper Danas reported songs, car horns and cheers in several parts of the country, with residents coming onto their apartment balconies to join in.

In Kragujevac, in central Serbia, people gathered near polling stations and sang popular songs, including “Three Kisses” (Tri celuvki), as well as songs featuring the refrain “Vucic is leaving.” Drivers responded by honking their horns.

Celebrations also took place at the Student List’s election headquarters, where candidates and students sang together and chanted “Victory!” Red and white balloons had been arranged at the headquarters earlier, and the candidates had expressed optimism before the first reliable projections emerged.

Despite the festive atmosphere, security remained heightened in central Belgrade. Additional police, gendarmerie units and specialized riot-control vehicles were deployed near the Serbian Presidency, the National Assembly and the Republic Electoral Commission. Metal barriers and police lines blocked sections of streets around key state institutions.

Dozens of men, most dressed in black, gathered throughout the evening in Pioneer Park, where a camp for ruling-party supporters known as “Chatsiland” had been established. At around 9:45 p.m., some began leaving the fenced-off site.

Serbian media had repeatedly warned during election day of possible provocations and clashes. Student List representatives called on supporters to remain calm and avoid areas with a heavy police presence or groups of people in plain clothes. The movement also urged citizens to stay in their own towns and cities and help monitor the vote count.