Serbia votes in snap election as student movement seeks change

Serbian voters turned out in force on Sunday as a mass student protest movement sought to unseat longtime populist leader Aleksandar Vucic in the biggest challenge to his rule for more than a decade.

The snap parliamentary elections, called by Vucic in September, come after almost two years of student-led demonstrations against perceived corruption and creeping authoritarianism triggered by the deaths of 16 people when a train station canopy collapsed in the city of Novi Sad in 2024. The students have since gained widespread support.

Unusually long lines snaked from polling stations in cities and towns across the country. Pollsters and monitors CeSID and Ipsos put turnout at 27.3 per cent by 11 a.m. local time, nearly double the 15.1 per cent at the same time in the previous election in 2023. Even Vucic waited in line for nearly two hours to vote. First indications of results are expected around two hours after polls close at 8 p.m.

A student victory would be a profound political shift in the Balkan country of some 6 million people, reminiscent of the defeat of Hungary’s Viktor Orban in April. It could also offer a blueprint for other student movements across Europe, which have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest, in some cases violently, against poor education standards and a lack of prospects.

“It is very important for all people to come and vote if they want to change something and I think it is a time for change,” said lawyer Marija Cvjeticanin at a Belgrade polling station.

Vucic, who resigned from his second term as president to run again for prime minister, is a strong incumbent. Many voters thank him for pulling Serbia from economic obscurity and orchestrating a period of sustained modernisation including new highways, railways, schools and hospitals.

Vucic has pledged higher pensions and public sector salaries, and investment in state healthcare. Internationally, he has sought closer ties with China, a major investor, and remained close to Russia, Serbia’s traditional ally and principal supplier of natural gas. At the same time, he still says he wants to join the European Union, Serbia’s largest trading partner, but the bloc has become increasingly frustrated with a lack of reform.

“I voted for our children, our young people...our children deserve peace and work, only Vucic can bring that,” said Hatidza, a Roma woman.

The students’ domestic agenda aims to root out graft and improve schooling, but they have been quieter on their international ambitions. Their list of 250 largely unknown candidates includes university professors, actors and farmers, and is led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic, although it is not clear who would be prime minister should they win.

“I hope that today will pass in a democratic atmosphere, in peace, and that we will legitimately elect a new government in Serbia,” Srdanovic said after casting his vote in Novi Sad, adding that the scenes suggested there would be a record voter turnout in the country’s recent history.

After casting his vote, Vucic said he would respect the result.

“If we lose we will acknowledge the will of the electorate, if we win no one will take it (from us),” he said.

Opinion polls ahead of the vote predicted a tight race. The head of the Election Commission, Vladimir Dimitrijevic, said voting had so far passed without incident, but monitoring bodies CeSID and CRTA pointed to incidents related to the electoral roll and secrecy of voting.

The student-led street protests sparked by the station disaster quickly became the biggest in a generation, calling for Vucic to step down. Rights groups and activists say repression has worsened in the period since.

“For decades the people have been waiting for this time, something to bring hope that we can live freely and by the rules of democracy,” said actor Jelena Stupljanin, 48, at a Belgrade polling station.

Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly denied accusations of repression, corruption and spying on their opponents. He says the students are funded by foreign agents in Croatia and Montenegro, a charge the students dismiss.

“This has been one of the most difficult but the most emotional campaigns,” Vucic told his supporters on Thursday. “We stood against those who wanted to destroy Serbia.”