The Serbia election on Sunday, October 25, ended in a clear win for the Student List, a movement that grew out of protests over a deadly 2024 station collapse. Aleksandar Vučić admitted defeat the same night. With 97% of polling stations counted, the students led his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) by 52.6% to 39.2%, the BBC reported.
Key facts (as of October 2026)
- Preliminary figures cited by the BBC give the Student List 2.24 million votes and the SNS 1.67 million, with 97% of stations counted.
- Turnout was close to 70%, the highest since Yugoslavia broke apart in 1992, according to France 24 and ABC News (Australia).
- A CESID-IPSPS projection puts the students on 138 of the 250 seats in parliament and the SNS on 104. A majority needs 126.
What happened in the Serbia election?
Serbians picked a new 250-seat parliament in a snap vote that Vučić himself called in September. Queues built up early in cities and towns across the country. They also formed outside Serbian polling stations abroad, from Paris and Munich to Chicago and Los Angeles, the BBC said.
Vučić spoke at his party headquarters in Belgrade before the count was finished. Working from a sample of results, he told supporters the students would win between 135 and 140 seats, while his own list would get about 105. “It is clear that we have lost these elections,” he said, as quoted by France 24.
Soon afterwards, crowds poured into central Belgrade and Novi Sad, honking car horns and setting off fireworks. Ethnic minority parties are expected to share the few remaining seats.
Why does the result matter to Europe and the US?
Serbia is a candidate to join the European Union. However, Vučić never joined EU sanctions on Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the BBC noted. So the next government’s foreign policy will be watched closely in Brussels, Moscow and Washington.
The students have said little so far about foreign affairs. Even so, any new cabinet has to balance several partners at once. According to Reuters reporting carried by ABC News (Australia), China is a major investor, Russia is its main gas supplier, and the EU is its biggest trading partner.
The vote also fits a wider pattern in the region. In April, Hungarian voters ended Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. His successor, Prime Minister Péter Magyar, said he was delighted by the Serbian outcome, the BBC reported.
What led to this Serbia election?
The trigger was the collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, which killed 16 people. Students blamed corruption and negligence, and they demanded that officials be held to account.
Over almost two years, those protests widened into a national campaign against what demonstrators called corruption and creeping authoritarianism. Vučić and the SNS have repeatedly denied corruption claims. The party has governed since 2012.
Vučić had already served two terms as president and could not run for a third. Instead, he led the SNS list in a bid to become prime minister again, a post he left in 2017. Parliament speaker Ana Brnabić is acting as caretaker head of state for now, according to the BBC.
The Student List, by contrast, has no single famous face. Its candidates include doctors, university professors, actors and farmers. The list is headed by cardiologist Ilija Srdanović, but it is still unclear who would serve as prime minister.
How have European and Russian leaders reacted?
Brussels welcomed the result. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said a new chapter could begin for Serbia and that the EU’s door was open, the BBC reported.
Moscow was more guarded. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Vučić’s role in building ties with Russia. He added that he hoped the new political force would also see cooperation with Moscow as being in Serbia’s interest.
For his part, Vučić had promised before the polls closed that his party would respect the outcome. France 24 reported that he waited in line for nearly two hours with his wife to cast his own ballot.
What happens next after the Serbia election?
The Republic Electoral Commission still has to publish final results. After that, the new parliament will need a majority of at least 126 deputies to approve a government.
The students campaigned on removing officials who cracked down on protesters, ending party control of state companies and freeing the public broadcaster from political pressure. They also want better schools. In addition, a separate presidential election is due in December, the BBC said.
How to follow live coverage
For live reporting from Belgrade, the European channels are a good place to start. Euronews and DW News both cover the Balkans closely, and France 24 English carries regular updates. BBC News also has correspondents in the region.
Our guide to European news channels in English lists more options. For other big stories of the day, browse our Hot Topics coverage.
Coming soon: the NewsLive streaming app. We’re building one subscription for live international news on Android, Roku, Fire TV and desktop. The service is under development — follow NewsLive for launch updates.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the Serbia election?
The Student List won the most votes. Preliminary results cited by the BBC show about 52.6% for the students and 39.2% for Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party, and Vučić conceded on election night.
Why was the Serbia election held early?
Vučić announced the early vote in September. By then, students had been protesting for nearly two years. Those protests began when a station canopy in Novi Sad collapsed in November 2024 and killed 16 people.
Is Vučić still Serbia’s president?
No. He served two terms as president and then led his party’s list for parliament instead. Parliament speaker Ana Brnabić is acting head of state until a presidential election due in December.
