Europe is asking for a change, and Serbia is voting on it today: the country of about 6.45 million registered voters is holding a snap parliamentary election for all 250 seats in the National Assembly, where 126 seats make a majority. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m., with the first indications of the result expected about two hours later. Eighteen lists are on the ballot, but the contest has narrowed to two: President Aleksandar Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the student-backed list trying to end his more than decade-long grip on power.
The challenge was born in tragedy. In November 2024 a railway station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad and killed 16 people — a disaster widely blamed on corruption — and the student-led protests it sparked became the biggest in a generation. The movement has now put up a Students' List of 250 candidates, among them university professors, actors and farmers, led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanović. Several established opposition parties stood aside and urged their supporters to back the students. "I hope that today will pass in a democratic atmosphere, in peace, and that we will legitimately elect a new government in Serbia," Srdanović said after voting in Novi Sad, adding that the scenes pointed to a record turnout.
Vučić resigned the presidency on September 27 to head his party's list — "Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia" — and run again for prime minister, and on Sunday he waited in line for nearly two hours to cast his own ballot in Belgrade. "If we lose we will acknowledge the will of the electorate, if we win no one will take it (from us)," he said after voting. The race is tight: an Ipsos poll published on Thursday put the SNS ahead with 47 per cent against 40 per cent for the students, while other polls have put the students in front.
Turnout is running far above the last election. Queues formed outside polling stations in Belgrade and Novi Sad before the doors even opened; by 10 a.m. almost 20 per cent had voted, against 9.94 per cent at the same hour in 2023, and monitors put turnout at 56.4 per cent by 4 p.m. Election monitors reported problems through the day — pressure on voters and observers and voters photographing their ballots at a share of stations — while officials said most issues were resolved and voting continued. At the stations, voters on both sides stated the stakes plainly. "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 in Belgrade. "I voted for our children, our young people — our children deserve peace and work, only Vucic can bring that," said Hatidza, a Roma voter backing the incumbent.
Why the world is watching: a student victory would be a profound political shift in the Balkans, reminiscent of the defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orban in April, and a possible blueprint for the student movements that have taken to the streets across Europe in recent weeks. Serbia sits at a crossroads — an EU candidate whose accession drive has stalled, a traditional Russian ally supplied by Russian gas, and a major destination for Chinese investment — so which way Belgrade turns matters in Brussels, Moscow and Washington alike. Vučić has denied the movement's accusations of corruption and repression and says the students are funded from abroad, a charge the students dismiss. By tonight, Serbia will have chosen its direction.
Never miss a story.Join our Telegram channel and get every article link the second it is published.
Join Telegram Channel