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What European students can learn from their Serbian peers
Confirmed
In Short: In a surprise victory, Serbian students' movement, the Student List, won parliamentary elections, ousting long-time leader Aleksandar Vucic.
Serbian students, mobilized in a nationwide movement, achieved an unprecedented electoral victory on Sunday, securing around 135-140 seats in parliament compared to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party's 105 seats.
The Student List, which emerged from student protests following the Novi Sad railway station disaster in November 2024, rejected traditional political strategies and refused to align with any domestic political party or international superpowers.
CRTA, a Serbian election watchdog, reported that the Student List won 51.5 percent of the vote, while Vucic's United Serbia won 40.2 percent.
Vucic conceded defeat in a brief statement to the nation, acknowledging the Student List's majority in parliament.
Student List candidate Radomir Saicic celebrated the victory, stating, “Tonight, the citizens of Serbia have shown that no obstacle is greater than their will, no fear is stronger than their courage, and no force can forever overpower a people determined to take their destiny into their own hands.”
The movement's success was attributed to its independent political strategy, which ensured its success where other opposition parties had failed. The students were seen as naive and irrelevant by many, but their persistence and innovative approach paid off.
The Student List has already started negotiations to form the government, marking a significant shift in Serbia's political landscape.
The protests were not the first against Vucic and his government, but this time, the students remained independent and did not rely on their opponents' overconfidence.
Serbian students and their families had been squeezed from all sides by local elites and international corporations, leading to a widespread sense of precarity and lack of social mobility.
The election results suggest that the Student List's victory was a verification of a revolution carried out with support from various European countries and the US, according to Vucic.
Despite allegations of irregularities and pressure on voters, the high voter turnout and the clear majority for the Student List indicate a strong mandate for change in Serbia.
What's confirmed
- “I would like to inform you that, based on the stratified sample, it is clear that we have lost this election,” said Aleksandar Vucic, former president and leader of the Serbian Progressive Party’s “United Serbia” electoral list.
- Speaking at around 9:30 pm on Sunday, Vucic announced preliminary results suggesting that the opposition Student List was leading in Serbia’s closely watched snap parliamentary elections, with around 135-140 seats compared to 105 for the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
- Serbian election watchdog CRTA said that according to preliminary results, Student List won 51.5 per cent and Vucic’s United Serbia won 40.2 per cent.
- “This was a verification of a revolution that they carried out directly with support of various European countries, and the US’s deep state, the one that is against President Trump,” Vucic said in a press conference.
What's still developing
- By March 2025, suffering more and more attacks, the students called for people to establish citizens’ assemblies akin to the student plenaries, in order to aid them in seeking justice for the 16 killed in Novi Sad.
- The students made it clear they rejected being incorporated into a type of leadership-based politics that was failing all across Europe.
- The Guardian reported that the outgoing Serbian leader had pushed officials in Belgrade to help advance a plan promoted by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, to build a $500 million hotel complex in Belgrade.
- He resigned last month and led his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) with the goal of returning to the post of prime minister, which he left in 2017.
- "Vucic's rhetoric suggests that he will likely join Orban and other populist European politicians who enjoy Trump's support but will now find themselves in opposition to what they often label 'globalist-led structures,'" he said.
- “It is about the people, all those who believed when things were hardest, who did not give up when they were told nothing could change, and who, despite everything, continued to fight,” Saicic said.
- In each episode, two political heavyweights from across the EU face off to propose a diversity of opinions and spark conversations around the most important issues of EU affairs and the wider European political life.
- LED screens in the corridors announced plenaries and alternative lectures for students.
- Associating with them would have been damaging to the movement.
- Although the student protests were triggered by one particular incident – the death of 16 people in a train canopy collapse at a newly renovated station in 2024 – their anger had much deeper roots.