European leaders congratulate Serbia’s Student List after Vučić concedes

European and regional leaders congratulated Serbia’s Student List after Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat in the October 25 parliamentary election. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered support for reforms, while Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said he had assured the movement’s leaders of Hungary’s support, according to the Straits Times. Student List is projected to win 135–140 of parliament’s 250 seats, but final official results are not established in the available reporting.³⁴⁹

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From protests to candidates

The movement emerged after a concrete canopy collapsed at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, killing 16 people. Demands for accountability developed into protests across Serbia. According to the BBC, the movement subsequently drew in farmers, actors and judges, extending its reach beyond university campuses.¹⁷

The Guardian reported that evidence indicated problems with modifications made during refurbishment. It also reported that there had been no official determination of the collapse’s cause and that no official had been held accountable. Protest participants accused the authorities of corruption; Vučić and his party deny corruption, according to the BBC.¹²

Despite its name, Student List has no students among its candidates, the BBC reports. Its nominees come from different areas of Serbian society and have no political background. According to the Guardian, university faculties supplied most nominations, which were then approved by assemblies of protesters.¹²

Milica Jovanović, a candidate and assistant professor at the University of Belgrade, told the Guardian: “We are political amateurs, but we are experts.” The BBC reports that several opposition parties have withdrawn in favour of the list.¹²

Student List’s closing campaign rally drew a reported 150,000 people to Belgrade’s Slavija Square to hear students and candidates, according to the BBC.¹

Competing measures of support

Vučić conceded defeat to the student-backed movement, according to the Guardian and Reuters. Reuters reported that he put Student List’s likely seat total at 135–140 and his side’s at 105 on the basis of a sample. He said no other group had entered parliament, but acknowledged that final results were not yet available. These are his preliminary assessments, not confirmed seat allocations.²⁹

Vučić has served as either prime minister or president since 2014, following two years as deputy prime minister, according to the BBC. He cannot pursue a third presidential term. The broadcaster describes Student List as the principal challenge to his political dominance.¹

Final polls offered conflicting pictures. According to the Guardian, Ipsos Strategic Marketing put Vučić’s list at 47.4% and Student List at 40%, while a separate NSPM poll placed Student List ahead by less than two percentage points. A July CRTA survey had put student support at 45%, against 36% for SNS. These figures measure polling support, not election results.²

The election was held to choose all 250 assembly members through proportional representation in a single national constituency. The BBC reported that 18 lists were competing, seven with a full slate of 250 candidates, and that lists must secure more than 3% of votes to elect candidates.¹

CeSID and Ipsos estimated turnout at 67.6%, according to the Guardian. The newspaper reported the highest turnout since Yugoslavia’s breakup in 1992, with long queues and some voters waiting up to two hours.²

Scrutiny of the campaign

The Council of Europe’s assembly of parliamentarians characterized the electoral climate as “tense and divisive”. According to the BBC, CRTA reported threats, violence, surveillance and institutional involvement in manipulating electoral conditions during the campaign. Serbia’s election commission says the vote is free and ballots are secret.¹

A Council of Europe delegation also reported hostile and aggressive rhetoric against opponents, according to election-day reporting by the Straits Times.³

Media access is also contested. The Guardian cited a September CRTA survey showing that the ruling majority received 69% of Serbian television airtime. Vučić and SNS deny trying to influence the media, according to the BBC. Student List said it would place representatives in every polling station to monitor the process; the Guardian reports more than 15,500 domestic observers overall, three times the 2023 number.¹²

According to the Guardian, CRTA documented no fewer than 116 cases involving assaults or spoken threats in the period leading up to election day. CRTA also reported pressure on voters in roughly one-third of polling stations and photographing of ballots in as many as 40%. Serbia’s election commission says voting is free and ballots are secret.¹²

In further election-day reporting, the Guardian cited monitors’ accounts of photographed ballots, attempted vote-buying and carousel voting. CRTA’s Raša Nedeljkov said irregularities were continuing and violent incidents outside polling stations were becoming more frequent.²

European leaders offer congratulations and support

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Student List and offered support for reforms, according to the Straits Times. Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset also congratulated the movement and offered the organisation’s cooperation with Serbia’s elected democratic leaders on human rights, democracy and the rule of law.³

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said he had spoken by phone with Student List leaders to congratulate them and assure them of Hungary’s support, the Straits Times reported. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić described events in Serbia as a reminder that democratic change rests on people’s right to choose their future freely.³