Serbia's Vucic concedes defeat in historic snap election with record turnout

Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat to a student-led protest movement ‌in an historic election on Sunday that ends his ⁠long grip on power and heralds a new political era in the Balkan country.  

The streets of Belgrade ‌erupted in celebration after Vucic's announcement, with cars honking and students ⁠shouting "victory"  and "he's done".  

The snap elections came after almost two years of student-led demonstrations against perceived corruption and creeping authoritarianism triggered by the deaths of 16 people when a train station canopy collapsed in the ‌city of Novi Sad in 2024.  

Read moreSerbia holds parliamentary election as populist leader Vucic faces student movement

"Dear Serbia, tonight the voice of the people is being  heard," said Radomir Sajcic, a professor at Belgrade University speaking on behalf of the ‌students at their headquarters. "Tonight we celebrate victory, tomorrow we build the future."  

Turnout in the election was nearly 70%, the highest since the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1992. Lines snaked from polling stations in cities and towns across Serbia on Sunday, in a sign of widespread desire for change.  

"It is clear that we have lost these elections, 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, basing his projection off preliminary results.  

 A representative sample by the CESID-IPSPS pollsters showed the student's candidate list will have 138 deputies, while Vucic's SNS party garnered 104 seats in the 250-seat parliament.  

Remaining seats will be shared between ethnic national ⁠minority parties.  

"Unbelievable happiness and joy and we have finally got rid of this mafia. I am ⁠so happy I cannot speak," said a woman named Tanja who was celebrating on the streets of Belgrade.  

Tense atmosphere

Tensions built as voting progressed during the day. Police in anti-riot gear cordoned off an area in central Belgrade around the election commission headquarters. Local media reported several violent incidents throughout the country, and special police vehicles could be seen near a Belgrade park where Vucic's loyalists have been camping for over a year. 

During a news conference less than two hours before polls closed, a student representative urged citizens to “stay calm and composed.”

While the increasingly authoritarian Vucic had routinely outplayed Serbia’s fractured opposition in the past, the leaderless youth movement proved to be a tough opponent that rattled his firm grip on power in Serbia like no one else in the 14 years since his party took office.

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The student victory echoes the recent electoral defeat of a Vucic ally in Hungary, where youth participation helped oust the autocratic Viktor Orbán after 16 years and bring in a new pro-European government. The result will likely resonate beyond Serbia as countries across Europe face youth and student protests.

Voters queued at polling places around the country from the early hours on Sunday as local election monitors noted relatively high participation. Long queues also formed at polling stations around the world, some in the middle of the night after authorities tied voting hours to local Serbian time. 

In the capital, Belgrade, Vucic stood in line alongside his wife for nearly two hours before casting his ballot. He told reporters he hoped for a peaceful election day and said that he and his party would respect the result.

“The will of the people is the will of God: vox populi, vox dei,” Vucic said. “If we lose, we will recognise the electoral will. If we win, no one will take it away from us.”

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)