Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has acknowledged that preliminary projections from Sunday’s parliamentary elections point to a change of government, with the student-led protest movement expected to secure substantially more seats than his party.
Serbians voted on Sunday to elect a new parliament, with Vucic seeking the post of prime minister.
“There will be between 135 and 140 mandates, we have 105,” Vucic said, referring to the projected number of parliamentary seats for the student-led list and his party, respectively.
He stressed that the final results were not yet available. No official vote count had been released at the time of his remarks, and Vucic did not identify the source of his estimates, referring only to a stratified sample.
Vucic also said that no other major parties appeared to have secured seats in parliament, apart from several minority parties.
The election saw high voter turnout, with the State Election Commission reporting that 64.89% of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 18:00 GMT.
Vucic resigned on September 27 following two years of protests, saying he wanted to participate in the election as an ordinary citizen. Anti-government demonstrations erupted after the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad in 2024, which killed 16 people and sparked allegations of corruption and failures in safety oversight.
Vucic has accused foreign organizations of funding the protests, alleging on Thursday that actors abroad wanted to remove him from Serbia’s political landscape.
25 October 2026
Senior officials in Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority constituent entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have congratulated Serbia’s opposition Student List on its projected election victory, pledging to maintain close ties with Belgrade.
SNSD leader Milorad Dodik thanked Vucic for years of cooperation, while Republika Srpska parliamentary speaker Nenad Stevandic said Serbia’s electoral choice must be respected.
“Vucic remains great in his deeds even though he lost the elections,” Stevandic wrote on X, calling for peace and stability.
Republika Srpska Prime Minister Savo Minic also congratulated the Student List, stressing that a strong and stable Serbia remains a pillar of Republika Srpska and regional peace.
Serbia’s projected election victory by the opposition Student List will not lead to sanctions against Russia, Jovo Bakic, a professor and representative of the movement, has told RT Balkan.
“We respect Russia both as a great power and as our historically important partner and, in many cases, protector,” Bakic said during an appearance on RT Balkan’s Serbia Chooses program, dismissing former President Aleksandar Vucic’s prediction that a new government would sanction Moscow within months.
“We survived UN sanctions and know very well what an ordeal it is,” he added.
“Sanctions from small Serbia against Russia would not change anything, but symbolically they would be very bad,” Bakic said, insisting that Belgrade’s policy toward Moscow would remain unchanged.
The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), led by Ivica Dacic, is projected to win just 2.3% of the vote in the snap parliamentary election, falling short of the 3% electoral threshold. If confirmed by official results, the outcome would leave the Socialists without representation in Serbia’s parliament for the first time since 1990.
“We will analyze where we could have done better and where we made mistakes,” Dacic told a press conference, acknowledging the disappointing result. He said his health had limited his ability to campaign but vowed to continue the party’s political struggle.
“There was no room for a third party, and that third party was us,” he said, adding that the SPS would oppose any policies it considered contrary to Serbia’s national interests, whether in government or opposition.
Serbia’s opposition Student List has invited Belgrade residents to gather on Milutin Milanković Boulevard to celebrate its projected election victory, while urging supporters to remain peaceful and avoid provocations.
“The job is not done,” the student movement wrote on X, emphasizing that the electoral process was still underway and that its representatives were continuing to count votes and serve on election commissions.
The group urged supporters to withdraw from potential flashpoints and celebrate “peacefully and with dignity.”
“This victory belongs to all of us,” Student List representative Radomir Saičić said, describing the result as a source of hope for a just and democratic Serbia. He stressed that a major victory also brings great responsibility.
Serbia’s opposition Student List is projected to secure 139 of the 250 seats in parliament, compared with 104 for Aleksandar Vucic’s United Serbia coalition, according to preliminary estimates by polling agency Ipsos and election monitor CeSID.
Based on 56% of their processed sample, the Student List is projected to receive 52% of the vote, against 39.3% for Vucic’s coalition.
The figures are not official election results, which are being compiled separately by the Republic Electoral Commission.
Representatives of Serbia’s opposition Student List have welcomed their projected election victory, with supporters taking to the streets to celebrate.
Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has acknowledged that preliminary projections from Sunday’s parliamentary elections point to a change of government, with the student-led protest movement expected to secure substantially more seats than his party.
“There will be between 135 and 140 mandates, we have 105,” Vucic said, referring to the projected number of parliamentary seats for the student-led list and his party, respectively.
He stressed that the final results were not yet available.
Initial figures from Ipsos and CeSID, based on 51.1% of a sample covering 750 polling stations, project 138 seats for the Student List and 104 for Vucic’s coalition.
The results would give the student-backed movement a majority in Serbia’s 250-seat National Assembly, where 126 seats are required to govern.
Polling stations have closed across Serbia after a day of heavy voter participation. Ipsos and CeSID estimate turnout at 67.6% by 7pm local time, while the Republic Electoral Commission earlier recorded 64.89% by 6pm. Voters already queuing when polling stations closed are still permitted to cast their ballots.