Serbian students win 53% of vote, facing 90-day deadline to form government

Serbia’s Student List captured 53% of the vote in Sunday’s election, securing 141 of the 250 seats in parliament. Projected results from the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy in Belgrade showed the movement outpacing Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive party, which received 39% and 103 seats. The remaining seats went to national minority lists.

The victory ends Vučić’s 14-year hold on power. He conceded defeat late Sunday after two years of protests began with the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people. Supporters took to the streets in Belgrade on Monday to mark the historic shift. The Student List is a deliberate collective with no formal hierarchy, featuring candidates such as cardiologist Ilija Srdanović, former central bank governor Dejan Šoškić, and chemistry professor Radomir Saičić.

Ana Mirković, a university educationist and candidate for the list, described the result as a "historic debt" rather than a gain of privilege. She stated the movement’s first priority is the "social and psychological detoxification" of the country. The platform pledges to fight corruption, restore the rule of law, and create an independent police unit accountable to prosecutors. It also aims to ban party loyalist appointments to state-owned companies and subject major infrastructure contracts to independent financial scrutiny.

Analysts note the movement faces public institutions staffed by civil servants loyal to the outgoing regime. Dušan Vučićević, an analyst, said the group focused on domestic dismantling of institutions. Nikola Burazer, programme director at the Belgrade-based Centre for Contemporary Politics, urged the movement to speed up its decision-making processes, noting that candidate selection took months. He observed that after the initial celebration, attention will turn to how the government will be structured.

International leaders responded on Monday. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, called the victory a new chapter in Serbian history. Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said Berlin would actively support Serbia’s European path. The Kremlin expressed hope that the new leaders understand that cooperation with Russia serves Serbia’s interests.

The new parliament must convene within 30 days of the official election result. A 90-day deadline then applies for the formation of a new government. Serbia must also hold new presidential elections before December 27, as Vučić stepped down to run for prime minister.