The long-serving strongman leader of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, conceded defeat on Sunday in an election that pitted him and his right-wing party against a diverse student-led opposition movement that spent two years protesting his government.
asserted
that → serve → government
It was a seismic political shift in the Balkan country where Vucic, who had been endorsed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and who denounced the student movement as a foreign-led attempt to unseat him, led with virtually absolute power for 14 years.
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who → endorse → years
High turnout and gathering tensions marked the highly contested parliamentary election that was a showdown between Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party and university students who, accusing the government of corruption and dismantling democracy, had built a popular following across the country.
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who → mark → country
Serbia’s 6.4 million voters were electing lawmakers to the 250-member Parliament.
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voters → elect → Parliament
In conceding the election, Vucic said his party projects that his opponents, the youth-backed Students’ List, will take between 135 and 140 seats while his SNS party will have around 105.
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party → concede → 105
“The Students’ List has won,” Vucic told supporters at his party’s election night event, though he blamed Serbia’s independent media as well as alleged interference by unnamed European countries and an ”American deep state” for the loss.
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he → win → loss
Belgrade erupts in celebration
Vucic said that his SNS party won around 1.7 million votes compared to the Students’ List, which he said took around 2.2 million.
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he → erupt → million
Supporters of the Students’ List immediately flooded onto the streets of Belgrade and other cities, honking horns, shouting and chanting: “Aleksandar is gone,” referring to Vucic.
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Aleksandar → flood → Vucic
The outcome, which Vucic announced only around an hour and a half after polls closed, came after tensions had built as voting progressed during the day.
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voting → announce → day
Police in anti-riot gear cordoned off an area in central Belgrade around the election commission headquarters.
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Police → cordone → headquarters
Special police vehicles could be seen near a Belgrade park where Vucic’s loyalists have been camping for over a year, and large groups of black-clad men had congregated at various points throughout the city.
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groups → see → city
Protests over corruption lead to Vucic’s fall
Vucic was seeking become Serbia’s prime minister after serving two near-full terms as president.
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Vucic → lead → president
He resigned the presidency last month to lead the campaign.
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He → resign → campaign
Support for the populist had eroded since 16 people were killed in 2024 when a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Novi Sad.
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canopy → erode → Sad
That set off a wave of youth protests that blamed the collapse on high-level corruption, cronyism and rampant graft during renovation work at the station.
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that → set → station
Despite the protests, Vucic retained considerable support among many of Serbia’s voters.
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Vucic → retain → voters
Admirers viewed him as a capable leader who can steer the nation through global uncertainties — the image that was carefully crafted by the mainstream media.
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that → view → media
While the increasingly authoritarian Vucic has routinely outplayed Serbia’s fractured opposition in the past, the leaderless youth movement proved to be a tough opponent that rattled his firm grip on power in Serbia like no one else in the 14 years since his party took office.
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party → outplay → office
The newly formed Students’ List movement was shaped by university students but none actually appeared on the election list.
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none → form → list
Instead, its candidates are little-known experts, athletes, farmers and artists.
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candidates → know → ?
This approach was meant to counter Vucic’s one-man rule and restore a sense of community and solidarity.
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approach → mean → community
The students’ message during the campaign focused on a non-partisan effort to rebuild Serbia’s economy and restore its democracy.
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message → focus → democracy
The students have used youthful energy to attract voters who are disillusioned with local politicians.
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who → use → politicians
Vilified by pro-government media, they cycled and walked through the country to reach voters in rural areas — Vucic’s traditional strongholds.
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they → vilify → areas
The student victory echoed the recent electoral defeat of a Vucic ally in Hungary, where youth participation helped oust the autocratic Viktor Orbán after 16 years and bring in a new pro-European government.
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participation → echo → government
It was likely to resonate beyond Serbia as countries across Europe have faced angry youth and student protests.
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countries → resonate → protests
The vote was closely watched in the EU
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vote → watch → EU
Monitors predicted that total turnout in the election could reach around 70%, unseen in Serbia since 2000.
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turnout → predict → 2000
During the day, long queues formed at polling stations in Serbia and in cities around the world.
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queues → form → world
Some in the Serbian diaspora were made to vote in the middle of the night after authorities tied voting hours to local Serbian time.
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authorities → make → time
Recent Serbian elections had been marred by irregularities and the EU was closely watching the conduct of Sunday’s vote in a candidate nation for the bloc’s membership.
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EU → mar → membership
Independent election monitors reported dozens of cases of irregularities on Sunday such as photographing of ballots that suggested pressure on voters and attempted vote buying.
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that → report → voters
Both international and local election monitors had expressed concern about the safety and fairness of an election campaign marked by detentions, near-total government control over the media and reports of surveillance and cyberattacks against activists.
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monitors → express → activists
Local elections earlier this year in 10 municipalities in Serbia saw violent attacks on journalists and activists.
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elections → see → journalists
The previous parliamentary vote in 2023 was followed by opposition protests alleging fraud.
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vote → follow → fraud
The Aporia
