Serbia votes as student movement challenges Vucic in snap parliamentary election

Belgrade, Serbia. Voters in Serbia are casting ballots on Sunday in a snap parliamentary election as a mass student movement tries to remove longstanding populist leader Aleksandar Vucic. The contest presents the most serious threat to his rule in over a decade.

Early queues and competing polls

Queues of unusual length had formed outside voting stations in Belgrade and Novi Sad before polls opened at 7 a.m. Polling closes at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), and initial results are anticipated roughly two hours afterwards.

“I came out early today because the students called us,” said Ana, 30, at a Belgrade polling station.

Surveys suggest a close contest, although they differ over who is ahead. An Ipsos poll released on Thursday gave Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) 47% support and the students 40%. Other surveys have shown the student movement leading.

Station disaster fuels political challenge

Vucic called the early parliamentary vote in September following nearly two years of demonstrations led by students over what they see as corruption and increasingly authoritarian government.

The movement began after a railway station canopy fell in Novi Sad in 2024, killing 16 people. Demonstrations demanding Vucic’s resignation rapidly grew into the largest protests for a generation, and the students subsequently attracted broad support. Activists and rights organisations say repression has intensified since the protests began.

A student win would mark a major change in the Balkan nation, which has about 6 million inhabitants, echoing Viktor Orban’s defeat in Hungary in April. It could also provide a model for student movements elsewhere in Europe. In recent weeks, those movements have protested against inadequate education and limited opportunities, with some demonstrations turning violent.

Rival domestic programmes

The student movement is campaigning to eliminate corruption and improve education. Its slate contains 250 mostly unfamiliar candidates, among them academics, actors and farmers, and is headed by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic.

Vucic remains a formidable incumbent despite leaving his second presidential term to seek another stint as prime minister. Many voters credit him with lifting Serbia out of economic obscurity and overseeing sustained modernisation through the construction of roads, rail links, schools and hospitals.

His domestic pledges include pension and public-sector pay increases, spending on government healthcare and financial support for young couples.

Foreign policy positioning

Internationally, Vucic has pursued stronger relations with China, a significant investor, and Russia, Serbia’s longstanding ally and main source of natural gas. At the same time, he has kept open the possibility of European Union membership.

The students have said less about their foreign policy ambitions than about their domestic programme.