Belgrade – In the end, the students have made it. Two years of pro-democracy protests have culminated in an indisputable victory in Serbia’s parliamentary elections on 25 October, securing an absolute majority in Parliament at the first attempt. They now have a political field wide open before them, with their own elected representatives, each bringing greater expertise in their respective fields.
Fraud, irregularities and reports of violence at numerous polling stations – also denounced by the European Union – have not been enough to stop the students’ electoral wave, which has brought more than 67% of voters to the polls, the highest turnout in more than 30 years.
Early projections put the Student List at 52% of the vote, against 39% for the ‘Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia’ list, while no other list is expected to enter Parliament, apart from those representing minority communities.
What makes the students’ victory definitive, pending the final results, is the concession of defeat by former President Aleksandar Vučić, who led the governing forces as their prime minister candidate, and tried until the very last moment to cling to power. Yet even before the partial results were announced, he acknowledged that his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has now to move into opposition after 14 uninterrupted years in power.
A night of celebration in Serbia
At the Student List headquarters, an outpouring of joy, tears and disbelief at having actually pulled it off has filled the room. The wave of joy has since swept through the streets of Belgrade, where celebrations are set to continue throughout the night. Slavija Square has filled with tens of thousands of people, as it did during the rally on 23 October and the other huge gatherings that have sustained the student movement’s resistance since November 2024.
“We have made history,” the students celebrated. And they really have. As the undisputed leading force in Parliament, they will finally be able to implement the change of direction they have promised throughout two years of protests, following more than a decade of corruption, clientelism and mismanagement that has led to an erosion of the rule of law and stalled Belgrade’s path towards European integration.
The reaction from Brussels
“Today, the people of Serbia turned out in record numbers to shape their country’s future,” European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated the Student List in a joint statement. “We stand ready to support reforms on the rule of law, media freedom, the fight against corruption and strong democratic institutions, and to work together to build Serbia’s future in the European Union.”
“Dear Serbia, you have made your voice heard!” Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos echoed their words shortly afterwards. “After nearly two years of protests for democracy, the rule of law and the fight against corruption, Serbians turned out in historic numbers,” she added, recalling that these “are the very values at the heart of our European Union.” With a new chapter that “can begin” for the country, the door to the EU “is open, and we are ready to move forward together.”
This article is currently being updated
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