BELGRADE -- Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's former president and dominant political figure for more than a decade, conceded defeat to the student-led protest movement in the country's parliamentary elections, potentially ushering in a new era of politics more closely aligned with Europe and away from the Kremlin.
"It is clear that we have lost these elections," he told a news conference late on October 25, after polling stations closed across Serbia.
"The Students' List has won, they will have between 135 and 140 seats and we will have 105. No one else has entered parliament," Vucic said, citing preliminary results as celebrations erupted among student leaders and supporters in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and other cities.
Some observers compared Vucic's loss to the defeat suffered by fellow Russia-friendly authoritarian leader of Hungary, Viktor Orban, in parliamentary elections in April.
A total of 18 electoral lists, with more than 2,400 candidates, participated in the Serbian election, with 250 to enter parliament in the effort to form a new government.
Building 'A New State'
"Tomorrow, we begin working to build a state governed by the rule of law," said Ilija Srdanovic, the leading candidate on the Students' List.
"We showed that change is possible when there is the will to make it happen. Now we must prove ourselves worthy of this moment. The students have won. We want to build a country together where everyone has the right to truth, a voice, and a future," he added.
Radomir Saicic, a professor at Belgrade University and a candidate on the Students' List, said: "Dear Serbia, tonight the voice of the people is being heard. Tonight we celebrate victory, tomorrow we build the future."
European Council President Antonio Costa also hailed the results, saying they would help push Serbia toward potential European Union membership.
"Today, the people of Serbia turned out in record numbers to shape their country’s future. Congratulations to the Students' List on its victory in the parliamentary elections," he wrote on X.
"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 build Serbia’s future in the European Union."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that "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."
Massive Turnout
While the final election results were yet to be announced, independent observers reported that voter turnout could reach its highest level in decades, approaching 70 percent after a day of long lines at polling stations throughout the Balkan nation of some 6.6 million people.
Having served as president since 2017, Vucic resigned in late September. Unable to seek a third term, he was hoping to become prime minister after calling for a snap election.
A large part of the public has been divided between the list led by Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the Students' List, which emerged from months-long protests over the deaths of 16 people in the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad in November 2024.
The tragedy in the northern Serbian city shocked the public amid reports that corrupt practices had led to shoddy construction work at the railway station, a flagship government project carried out by Chinese companies.
'Dirty Work'
Despite the early concession, Vucic expressed anger at the outcome -- calling it the result of "dirty work" by those in the US who are opposed to the policies of President Donald Trump and by leaders in other European capitals.
"I want people to know that this was the legitimization of a revolution carried out by the people with direct support from various European countries and the American deep state, the one that opposes President Trump."
He added that opponents were "merely carrying out dirty work devised by someone else to bring down a sovereign country. You succeeded for a moment. We’ll see [for how long]."
"By March or April, you will have sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation. You will see. They will do everything they didn’t want to tell you about, everything they lied about, because -- I repeat -- they are merely the ones carrying out someone else’s plans."
Serbia has long-standing ethnic and religious ties with Russia and still has many supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and opponents of sanctions against the Kremlin.
Vucic has often praised Trump, saying in a UN speech last month that "Serbia supports the actions of the administration of President Donald Trump and sees in his work an opportunity for establishing a more just order in the world and more responsible attitude toward Serbia as a close American ally from both world wars."
However, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about Serbia’s democratic record. A bipartisan, bicameral group of US lawmakers is pressing for tougher action on what they describe as democratic backsliding, corruption, and growing Russian, Chinese, and Iranian influence in Serbia.
Once an ultranationalist, Vucic has dominated Serbian politics for more than 14 years, during which he has consolidated his grip on power by reinventing himself as a reformer balancing Serbia's drive toward EU membership while maintaining close ties with Russia and China.
Praise From US Figures
There was no immediate reaction from the White House, although other figures in the US praised the outcome.
US Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, a longtime critic of Vucic and co-chair of the Helsinki Commission, told RFE/RL that “the Serbian people earned this incredible victory through sheer determination and a commitment to restore the rule of law in their country."
"This will include expelling the pernicious influence of the Chinese Communist Party and diversifying energy away from Russia. This is a new dawn for Serbia as it embraces its place in Western civilization. Dictators are on the run during the Trump administration.”
Ivana Stradner, a research fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told RFE/RL: "Serbia is experiencing the same energy we saw when [late Serbian President Slobodan] Milosevic. as overthrown."
"But history must not repeat itself: Removing Vucic is only the beginning. Serbia now must dismantle the system of corruption, and authoritarian control that sustained his rule and not simply replace the people at the top."
"This is Serbia’s chance to build lasting democratic institutions and put the country firmly on a path toward the West," she added.
Stradner said that Vucic "cultivated close ties with Moscow and Beijing, positioning Serbia as one of their closest partners in Europe. Now Russia and China stand to lose a key ally and a major foothold in Europe.”
