Belgrade, Serbia — October 26, 2026 — Serbia is set to form a new government after longtime leader Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat in snap parliamentary elections on Sunday, ending more than a decade of dominance by his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
The student-led “Student List – Students Win” (Studentska lista – Studenti pobeđuju) secured an absolute majority, projected to win 135–140 of the 250 seats in the National Assembly, according to Vučić’s own figures and independent projections from CeSID/Ipsos. His SNS-led “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia” list took roughly 103–105 seats. Preliminary official counts from the Republican Election Commission (RIK) showed the Student List with about 52% of the vote to around 39% for Vučić’s bloc, with turnout near 69% — the highest in decades. NYTimes
“It is clear that we have lost these elections. The Student List has won,” Vučić said in a televised concession speech at his party headquarters late Sunday, based on early samples. Celebrations erupted across Belgrade, Novi Sad, and other cities, with crowds filling the streets, cars honking, and fireworks marking the end of an era. Reuters
The election followed nearly two years of student-led protests that began after the November 1, 2024, collapse of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people. What started as demands for accountability over the disaster grew into a broad anti-corruption movement accusing the government of negligence, cronyism, and democratic backsliding. Students organized through university plenums and eventually formed an electoral list of academics, professionals, actors, and other non-politicians, headed in part by cardiologist Ilija Srdanović. Rferl
Vučić, who has dominated Serbian politics since 2012 as prime minister and then president (since 2017), resigned the presidency in late September to lead the SNS campaign and seek a return as prime minister—a move compared by some to strategies used by other long-serving leaders. Unable to run for a third presidential term, he called the snap vote. A new presidential election must now be held by the end of December. Bloomberg
The Student List’s candidates have pledged to root out graft, restore the rule of law, and improve education and public institutions. However, with most nominees being political newcomers and the movement having no single clear leader, questions remain about who will become prime minister and how the new government will handle foreign policy, European Union accession talks, and relations with Russia.
Minority parties are expected to hold a handful of the remaining seats, while traditional opposition groups, including the Socialists, failed to clear the threshold. Official final results are still being processed, but the outcome marks a seismic shift in Balkan politics and raises hopes among supporters for a more open and accountable Serbia.