Aleksandar Vučić, who has dominated Serbian politics for more than a decade, conceded defeat on Sunday night, Oct. 25, 2026, after a student-led movement won an outright majority in a snap parliamentary election. He spoke at his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) headquarters in Belgrade shortly after 9:30 p.m. local time (about 4:30 p.m. ET). "It is clear that we have lost these elections," Vučić said.
The final projection from the monitors CeSID and Ipsos gives the Student List about 52.9% of the vote and 140 of 250 seats, N1 reported. Vučić's "United Serbia" list is projected at 38.8% and 103 seats.
Turnout was the highest since the breakup of Yugoslavia, according to Reuters. The result ends nearly two years of mass protests that began after a railway station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing 16 people.
Key Facts
- When: Election held Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026; polls closed at 8 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET); Vučić conceded shortly after 9:30 p.m. (about 4:30 p.m. ET).
- Where: Serbia; concession delivered at SNS headquarters in Belgrade.
- Who: Aleksandar Vučić, former president and SNS candidate for prime minister; the Student List, whose candidates include Ilija Srdanović, Radomir Saičić and Dejan Šoškić; Acting President Ana Brnabić.
- Projected result: Student List 52.9% and 140 seats; United Serbia 38.8% and 103 seats; minority parties 7 seats (CeSID/Ipsos).
- Turnout: About 69%, compared with 58.77% in 2023.
- Status: Projections only; official results from the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) were still pending Monday morning.
- Majority needed: 126 seats.
What Happened
Serbia went to the polls after Vučić dissolved parliament in September and called a snap vote. He resigned the presidency on Sept. 27 and then led his party's list as its candidate for prime minister, according to Al Jazeera. Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić became acting president.
Turnout surged through the day. The electoral commission put it at 64.89% by 6 p.m., Telegraf reported, far above the same point in 2023. CeSID's preliminary final estimate was 69.3%, N1 reported.
Voting was not trouble-free. The monitoring group CRTA reported pressure on voters at almost a third of the 500 polling stations it observed. CeSID logged about 260 irregularity reports by 5 p.m., according to N1's live coverage.
Later Sunday night, a CeSID/Ipsos projection based on 56% of its sample showed the Student List at 52%. Vučić had already told reporters the students would have "between 135 and 140 seats, and we will have 105," according to Reuters, via ABC. He said his party would not file lawsuits or appeals, KoSSev reported.
He accepted the result but attacked the winners. He called it the verification of a revolution backed by "various European countries and the deep American state, the one opposed to President Trump," RFE/RL reported. Ecker Geopolitics found no evidence supporting that claim.
The students celebrated in Belgrade. "Tonight we celebrate victory, tomorrow we build the future," said Radomir Saičić, a University of Belgrade professor on the list, according to RFE/RL. Ilija Srdanović, the Novi Sad cardiologist who heads the list, pledged to "build a state governed by the rule of law."
"It is clear that we have lost these elections." — Aleksandar Vučić, Oct. 25, 2026
ABC News (Australia) posted this report on the result on its official YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5GZiS4DAfU
Timeline
| Date/Time (ET) | Event |
|---|---|
| Nov. 1, 2024 | Canopy collapse at Novi Sad railway station kills 16 |
| Jan. 28, 2025 | Prime Minister Miloš Vučević announces his resignation |
| March 15, 2025 | More than 300,000 rally in Belgrade, per the Archive of Public Gatherings |
| April 16, 2025 | Đuro Macut government elected |
| Sept. 9, 2026 | Vučić dissolves parliament and calls the vote |
| Sept. 27, 2026 | Vučić resigns as president |
| Oct. 25, 3 p.m. | Polls close |
| Oct. 25, about 4:30 p.m. | Vučić concedes |
| Oct. 25, 7:41 p.m. | CeSID/Ipsos final projection: 140 seats for the Student List |
Who's Involved
- Aleksandar Vučić, SNS leader and former president: conceded, but says the new government will be pushed into sanctioning Russia.
- Student List: an alliance born from the protest movement with no single formal leader; Reuters reported it is unclear who will become prime minister.
- Ilija Srdanović, first on the list; Radomir Saičić, Belgrade University professor; Dejan Šoškić, former central bank governor.
- Ana Brnabić, acting president and parliament speaker.
- CeSID and Ipsos, whose projections are the basis for current seat counts; CRTA, an election monitor.
The Ground Picture
Serbia, a landlocked country of about 6.6 million people, sits at the center of the Western Balkans. Belgrade, at the meeting of the Sava and Danube rivers, controls key road and rail links between Central Europe, Greece and Turkey.
Energy is a pressure point. Serbia depends on Russian gas, and Gazprom extended its supply deal through year-end. The main oil refiner, NIS, is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and its parent, Gazprom, and faces U.S. sanctions. Hungary's MOL is negotiating to buy the Russian stake, with talks licensed through Oct. 30.
China is Serbia's leading arms supplier. RFE/RL reported that China supplied 57% of Serbia's arms imports in 2020-24, including the FK-3 air defense system.
Geopolitical Players
European Union. Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said "the door to the EU is open," Report.az reported. European Council President António Costa congratulated the Student List. Reuters described the movement's foreign policy as vague.
Russia. Ecker Geopolitics found no Kremlin reaction as of Monday morning. Before the vote, President Vladimir Putin said he hoped Vučić would become prime minister.
China. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing "respects the independent choices of the people" and is ready to work with the new government, Anadolu reported.
Hungary. Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who unseated Viktor Orbán in April, said he had called the Student List's leaders, according to Reuters.
Kosovo. The Student List's platform calls Kosovo an "inalienable and integral part" of Serbia, RFE/RL reported via Albeu. That suggests little near-term change on recognition.
What It Means for the United States
Benefits and opportunities
- A government elected on an anti-corruption platform could be more open to Western energy deals, including MOL's purchase of the sanctioned Russian stake in NIS.
- Analysis: a peaceful transfer of power in a Balkan state long courted by Moscow and Beijing weakens both countries' influence in Europe's southeast.
- Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., urged the new government to counter "the pernicious influence of the Chinese Communist Party" and diversify energy away from Russia, according to RFE/RL.
Risks and dangers
- The Student List has given few details on foreign policy, and its Kosovo stance is as firm as Vučić's, which limits progress on a U.S.-backed normalization deal.
- Vučić cast himself as a Trump ally and blamed the "deep American state." That narrative could fuel distrust of Washington among his voters.
- The Gazprom gas contract runs only through year-end, so a new and inexperienced government faces an early energy test as winter arrives.
- The White House had no immediate reaction, leaving the EU to shape first contacts with the new majority.
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What's Next
- Coming days: RIK to publish official preliminary results.
- Within 30 days of final results: New National Assembly must convene, then elect a government within 90 days, per Hungarian Conservative's summary of the constitutional timeline.
- Oct. 30: U.S. license for MOL's NIS talks expires unless extended.
- By year-end: A presidential election must be held to fill the post Vučić vacated, according to the government; no date has been set.
- Dec. 31: Gazprom gas supply extension ends.
Related coverage: how Washington eased Russia oil sanctions this month and the Kremlin's push for a Trump-Xi summit on Ukraine.
Subscribe to the Ecker Dispatch for daily coverage, and cast your vote in today's poll.
Sources
- Al Jazeera: Serbia's Vucic concedes election defeat to student-led movement — Oct. 25, 2026
- ABC News (Australia)/Reuters: Serbian president concedes defeat to student-led movement — Oct. 26, 2026
- Times of Israel/Reuters: Serbia's Vucic concedes election defeat in historic win for student protest movement — Oct. 26, 2026
- RFE/RL: Vucic Concedes Electoral Defeat, Setting Stage For New Era — Oct. 26, 2026
- N1: Live blog, Serbian parliamentary elections Oct. 25, 2026 — Oct. 25-26, 2026
- N1: CeSID i Ipsos na osnovu 56 odsto uzorka — Oct. 25, 2026
- Telegraf: Rezultati parlamentarnih izbora 2026 u Srbiji — Oct. 25, 2026
- KoSSev: Vučić priznao poraz, pa napao pobednike — Oct. 26, 2026
- Government of Serbia: President Aleksandar Vučić resigns — Sept. 27, 2026
- Al Jazeera: Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian leader brought down by students — Oct. 26, 2026
- N1: Blog, day after the elections — Oct. 26, 2026
- Wikipedia: 2026 Serbian parliamentary election — accessed Oct. 26, 2026
- Report.az: EU, Council of Europe congratulate Student List — Oct. 26, 2026
- Anadolu: China says ready to work with Serbia's new government — Oct. 26, 2026
- 93.3 The Drive/Reuters: Reactions to election victory of Serbia's Student List — Oct. 25, 2026
- Albeu/RFE/RL: What policy toward Kosovo might the Student List pursue — Oct. 26, 2026
- EDMO/Istinomer: And Now Silence When You See That Putin Has Backed Me Again? — Oct. 3, 2026
- N1 English: Gas supply deal with Russia extended through end of year — Sept. 30, 2026
- ad-hoc-news: MOL confirms NIS talks through October 30 — Oct. 16, 2026
- RFE/RL: Serbia Deepens Military Ties With China — Jan. 7, 2026
- Hungarian Conservative: Vučić Concedes Defeat as Students' List Wins Outright Majority — Oct. 25, 2026
- NASA Earth Observatory: Belgrade, Serbia — March 18, 2013