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Serbia's Vucic concedes defeat to student-led list in election

Published

Vucic said projections from a sample of votes give the Student List 135 to 140 of 250 seats against 105 for his list. Final results were not yet available, and tens of thousands celebrated in Belgrade.

Vucic spoke in a televised address after the vote on Sunday. He said: "It is clear that we have lost these elections, the Student List has won." He resigned as president in September to lead his party's campaign.

A party needs 126 seats to form a government in the 250-seat parliament. About 6.5 million people could vote, and 18 lists competed. Reports put turnout at close to 70 per cent.

Vucic blamed independent media, unnamed European countries and an "American deep state" for the result. Election monitors said the campaign saw detentions and near-total government control over the media.

The student protests began after a railway station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2024. The collapse killed 16 people.

Key facts

Who
Aleksandar Vučić (Serbia's former president; conceded defeat in the parliamentary election); Ben Hall (author of the opinion piece); Aleksandar Vucic (former president who resigned last month to lead the campaign; leader of SNS); Students' List (student-led opposition movement that won the election)
What
Former Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat in the parliamentary election, which the article describes as a dramatic fall from power for the strongman nationalist leader. An opinion piece by Ben Hall argues the defeat shows people power overcoming an autocrat's efforts to stack the electoral system.
When
25 October 2026
Where
Serbia, Novi Sad, Belgrade
Status
Reported

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