Serbia’s strongman leader Vucic concedes defeat to student-led movement in seismic political shift

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — 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.

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 for 14 years.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — High turnout and gathering tensions marked a highly contested parliamentary election on Sunday in Serbia that is a showdown between the Balkan country’s strongman leader Aleksandar Vucic and a diverse movement of university students who have led protests against him for almost two years.

Though Serbia's 6.4 million voters can choose from 18 parties hoping to enter the 250-member Parliament, the election has taken shape as a referendum between Vucic's right-wing Serbian Progressive Party and the youth-backed Students' List.

The main contenders are believed to be polling neck-and-neck, making Sunday's election the most uncertain in recent years. Polls closed Sunday evening.

Tensions built as voting progressed during the day. Police in anti-riot gear cordoned off an area in central Belgrade around the election commission headquarters. Local media reported several violent incidents throughout the country, and special police vehicles could be seen near a Belgrade park where Vucic's loyalists have been camping for over a year.

During a news conference less than two hours before polls closed, a student representative urged citizens to “stay calm and composed.”

While the increasingly authoritarian Vucic has routinely outplayed Serbia’s fractured opposition in the past, the leaderless youth movement has 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.

A student victory would echo 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. It would also likely resonate beyond Serbia as countries across Europe face youth and student protests.

Long lines form at polling places

Voters queued at polling places around the country from the early hours on Sunday as local election monitors noted relatively high participation. Monitors predicted that turnout could reach around 70%, unseen in Serbia since 2000.

Long queues also formed at polling stations around the world, some in the middle of the night after authorities tied voting hours to local Serbian time.

In the capital, Belgrade, Vucic stood in line alongside his wife for nearly two hours before casting his ballot. He told reporters he hopes for a peaceful election day and that he and his party will respect the result.

“The will of the people is the will of God: vox populi, vox dei,” Vucic said. “If we lose, we will recognize the electoral will. If we win, no one will take it away from us.”

Vucic said his camp will announce reliable projections about three hours after polls close at 8 p.m. local time (1900 GMT). Asked about whether the high turnout means people want change, he said: “Let’s wait for the result.”

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.

Local media also cited several violent incidents across the country. Andreas von Beckerath, the European Union ambassador in Belgrade, said in a social media post that he was “deeply concerned” by such reports, and called “on all actors to remain calm, to act responsibly and refrain from violence and provocations.”

After casting his ballot in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, Ilija Srdanovic, a physician who is the first of 250 candidates for the youth movement, said the long lines heralded “record turnout in Serbia’s recent history.”

“I hope that this day will pass in a democratic atmosphere and in peace and that we will legitimately choose a new government in Serbia,” Srdanovic said.

At a polling station in Belgrade, voter Jovan Mitrovic said he hopes that “everything goes peacefully and that everything finishes nicely,” and that “the dawn finally rises in this country after many years.”

The vote is closely watched in the EU

Recent elections have been marred by irregularities and the EU is closely watching the conduct of Sunday's vote in a candidate nation for the bloc's membership.

Both international and local election monitors already have 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.

Local elections earlier this year in 10 municipalities in Serbia saw violent attacks on journalists and activists. The previous parliamentary vote in 2023 was followed by opposition protests alleging fraud.

Vucic wants to return as prime minister

If his SNS party wins the most votes, Vucic will become the prime minister after serving two near-full terms as president. He resigned the presidency last month to lead the campaign.

Support for the populist has eroded since 16 people were killed in 2024 when a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Novi 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.

Despite the protests, Vucic retains considerable support among Serbia's voters. Admirers view him as a capable leader who can steer the nation through global uncertainties — the image that was carefully crafted by the mainstream media.

Students' List is a novelty in Serbia

The newly formed Students' List movement is shaped by university students but none are actually on the list. Instead, its candidates are little-known experts, athletes, farmers and artists.

This approach was meant to counter Vucic's one-man rule and restore a sense of community and solidarity. The students' message during the campaign focused on a non-partisan effort to rebuild Serbia's economy and restore its democracy.

The students have used youthful energy to attract voters who are disillusioned with local politicians. Vilified by pro-government media, they have cycled and walked through the country to reach voters in rural areas — Vucic's traditional strongholds.