BELGRADE -- Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's former president and dominant political figure for more than a decade, has conceded defeat to the student-led protest movement in the country's pivotal parliamentary elections.
"It is clear that we have lost these elections," he told a news conference late on October 25, after the polling stations closed across 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 committed to Serbia's drive toward EU membership while maintaining close ties with Russia and China.
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.
The development came after nearly two years of anti-government protests in Serbia, sparked by the deadly collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024.
The tragedy in the northern Serbian city killed 16 people and 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.
That, coupled with concerns that Vucic was pushing the country toward authoritarianism, fueled student-led protests and the emergence of a group of reform-minded political candidates running under a joint electoral slate known as the Students' List.
"The Student List has won, they will have between 135 and 140 seats and we will have 105, no one else has entered parliament," Vucic said.
Ilija Srdanovic, the leading candidate on the Students' List, praised the result, saying, "Tomorrow, we begin working to build a state governed by the rule of law."
"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.
While the final election results were yet to be announced, independent observers reported that voter turnout could reach its highest level in decades.
Praise From US
US Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, longtime critic of Vucic and co-chair of the Helsinki Commission, praised the result in comments to RFE/RL.
“The Serbian people earned this incredible victory through sheer determination and a commitment to restore the rule of law in their country," he said.
"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 was 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.”
