Serbians Vote in Snap Election as Student Movement Challenges Vucic’s Long Rule

Serbian voters turned out in large numbers on Sunday for a snap parliamentary election, in what Reuters described as the biggest challenge to the rule of longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic in more than a decade.

The vote pits Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party against a student-backed list that grew out of nearly two years of street protests. Polls close at 8 p.m. local time, and first indications of results are expected about two hours later, according to Reuters.

Turnout ran well ahead of the last parliamentary election. Pollster CeSID put turnout at 12 percent by 9 a.m., more than double the figure at the same time in 2023, Reuters reported. Long lines formed at polling stations in cities and towns across the country, and Vucic waited in line for nearly two hours to cast his own ballot.

A tight race after two years of protests

The protests began after a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in 2024, killing 16 people. Demonstrators demanded accountability for the disaster and accused the government of corruption. Vucic and his party have denied accusations of repression, corruption and spying on opponents, Reuters reported, and Vucic has said the students are funded by foreign agents in Croatia and Montenegro, a charge the students dismiss.

Voters are choosing from 18 lists for the 250-seat National Assembly, according to Sky News. Smaller parties must clear a 3 percent threshold to enter parliament. The Students’ List, led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic, includes 250 candidates drawn from university professors, actors and farmers, Reuters reported.

What each side is offering

At home, Vucic has pledged higher pensions and public sector salaries, investment in state health care and subsidies for young couples, Reuters reported. Abroad, he has balanced closer ties with China, a major investor, and Russia, Serbia’s traditional ally and main supplier of natural gas, while leaving the door open to joining the European Union.

The students’ domestic agenda aims to root out graft and improve schooling, Reuters reported. They have said less about their international plans. After voting, Srdanovic said he hoped the day would pass in a democratic atmosphere and in peace, and he pointed to the lines at polling stations as a sign of a record turnout in recent history.

Opinion polls predict a close finish. An Ipsos poll published on Thursday put Vucic’s party at 47 percent against 40 percent for the students, Reuters reported, while other polls have put the students in front. After casting his vote, Vucic said Serbia would choose its direction on Sunday. “If we lose we will acknowledge the will of the electorate, if we win no one will take it (from us),” he said.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and Sky News.