Vučić concedes defeat; students force parliamentary elections in Serbia

He had promised he would not contest the result, and indeed that is what happened. After nearly 15 years as the deus ex machina of Serbian politics, Aleksandar Vučić is now just another citizen. Shortly after 9 pm, the former President of the Republic grudgingly admitted that “the students have won”, although he then went on to attack the few remaining independent media outlets (his campaign threats to “soon put behind bars those who have defamed me – namely the editorial team of the weekly magazine Radar” will go down in history) and the American ‘deep state’ for campaigning against him. Nonetheless, the students prevailed with around 53 per cent of the vote, while the outgoing president’s ‘United Serbia’ list had to settle for 40 per cent. “Tonight the people’s voice has been heard; tonight we celebrate. But tomorrow, let’s build the future,” says former actor and candidate Radimir Saćić, “tonight the future and justice have won.” Yet the result was far from a foregone conclusion. 

Voter turnout looks set to be one of the highest in Serbian history, as early as this morning: by 10 am, around 20 per cent of eligible voters had already cast their ballots; turnout is expected to exceed 70 per cent by the close of polling. Vučić cast his vote at the crack of dawn at his polling station in New Belgrade. Sradnović, his media rival, did the same later that morning in ‘his’ Novi Sad. However, from lunchtime onwards, worrying reports of irregularities began to emerge from Crta, one of the main organisations monitoring the transparency of the vote: irregularities were observed in 25 per cent of polling stations, mainly involving people filming and photographing their vote (one of the ‘classic’ practices associated with vote-buying). 

In the afternoon, the situation becomes even more tense: in Pionerski Park, where a paramilitary camp of government supporters nicknamed ‘ćacilend’ has been in place since March 2025, riot police vehicles, soldiers and hooded government supporters – the so-called ‘ćaci’ – begin to gather. Tensions continue to rise, and by the time the polling stations close, a massive cordon of police and gendarmerie surrounds Parliament, prepared for a direct confrontation.

Fortunately, there is no violence. As mentioned, at 9 am Vučić concedes victory to his opponents. About half an hour later, the police cleared a path along Kralja Milana Street and the student voters, amidst a mix of chants (some against Vučić, others of a more nationalist and anti-Kosovar nature), made their way to the Pionerski camp. There were indeed minor clashes between hooded protesters and the police, who, however, stepped aside and eventually even allowed them access to the park in the centre of Belgrade – the most obvious symbol of the SNS’s power in the capital. “There were people pushing from behind the park, but I was standing in front of the park and the Parliament,” says Tommaso Siviero, co-author of the Balkan Brew newsletter. “It was striking, because Vučić’s supporters fled the park and vanished into the crowd in the blink of an eye. They literally vanished into thin air.”

What follows is a scene that is not particularly edifying, but liberating for the citizens of Belgrade: the barriers are torn down, the tents destroyed, and the march towards Parliament begins. After about an hour, the real celebrations begin: hundreds of thousands of citizens spread out between Parliament Square (Nikola Pasić Square) and Trg Slavija, where the students had held their final rally on 22 October before going to the polls. For them, this is a moment of victory and celebration, which will continue throughout the night. Two years after the collapse of the Novi Sad bus shelter and the 16 victims commemorated daily by the roadblocks, the students have won. From tomorrow, we shall see what comes of this victory. For now, it is simply time to celebrate.