SERBIA, Oct. 26 — Aleksandar Vučić concedes defeat in Serbia’s parliamentary elections in a statement to his supporters at the headquarters of Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade. Serbia’s election commission reported that the turnout for the election was recorded at “near-record” 65% an hour before the polls closed. 

“Preliminary results clearly show that we lost these elections. Student List won. They’ll take 135 to 140 seats at the parliament, and SNS will take 105; no one else got in,” Vučić said. 

Student List is a coalition of candidates chosen by the students who have been protesting against Vučić and SNS’s autocracy, corruption, and neglect since the fall of the concrete canopy at Novi Sad’s railway station killed 16 people in November 2024. Those are professors, entrepreneurs, activists, and other people from different regions of the country. The Student List is headed by Ilija Srdanović, cardiologist and professor. 

Radio Europe/Radio Free Liberty reported Srdanović said in the Student List’s headquarters, “Never again tyrants on our soil.”

According to Milos Damnjanovic, an analyst with the BIRN consultancy in Belgrade, few expected Vučić to concede defeat after almost 14 years in power in Serbia. 

Sandro Gozi, an MEP and secretary-general of the liberal European Democratic Party, said Belgrade has sent “a clear message to Europe”. He added that the vote showed that “democracy is stronger than those who try to silence it, and that the last word always belongs to the people. Tonight Belgrade is closer to Brussels.”

Vučić had a positive relationship with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia. Spokesman for Putin, Dmitrii Peskov, said that Moscow expects Vučić to continue strengthening bilateral relations between Russia and Serbia even while in opposition. 

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the Student List’s victory “a new page in the history of the country and the people. We wish luck to Serbia, we wish real development and warm relationships with the European community.” He also thanked Serbia for the respect regarding Ukraine’s independence. 

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