Serbia held parliamentary elections as a student-led movement sought to challenge the political dominance of Aleksandar Vucic, who has held power as prime minister and president for over a decade. The snap elections, called by Vucic in September, emerged from nearly two years of demonstrations triggered by a 2024 train station canopy collapse in Novi Sad that killed 16 people. The student movement has since expanded to encompass widespread demands for anti-corruption measures, judicial reform, and rule of law improvements.
Vucic, who stepped down as president in September to run for prime minister again, remains a formidable incumbent with a loyal base of supporters. Proponents credit him with raising Serbia’s economic profile and modernizing the country’s infrastructure. His campaign platform includes pledges to increase pensions and public sector wages, enhance state healthcare services, and provide subsidies for young couples. He has also maintained a balancing act between closer relations with China and Russia while keeping European Union membership potentially available, though ties with Brussels have deteriorated over concerns regarding judicial independence, corruption, and democratic standards.
The student opposition, organized as the Student List movement, fielded approximately 250 largely unfamiliar candidates including academics, artists, and agricultural workers, with cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic serving as a leading figure. Their platform emphasizes institutional reconstruction and fighting corruption while remaining relatively noncommittal on foreign policy matters including EU accession, relations with Russia, and normalization with Kosovo.
Observers noted that voter participation would prove crucial in determining the election outcome. Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party benefits from an established electoral base supported by a patronage system, while the Student List required mobilizing historically disengaged younger voters and undecided citizens. Opinion polls suggested a competitive race, with one survey showing the progressive party ahead by seven percentage points while other polling indicated different results. A large rally in Belgrade drew approximately 150,000 student movement supporters on Thursday. Voting occurred from 7am through 8pm local time, with initial results anticipated within two hours of polls closing.
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