Serbia votes in snap election as Vucic's SNS faces student-backed challenge

Serbia held a snap parliamentary election on Sunday, 25 October 2026. The vote was called by Aleksandar Vucic. His Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) faced its main challenge from the Students' List, a slate backed by a student-led protest movement.

The protests followed the 2024 collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people. They are described as among Serbia's largest since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

Vucic resigned as president last month to lead the SNS campaign. He seeks to become prime minister if the party wins. The SNS has dominated Serbian politics since taking power in 2012. Pre-election polling indicated a close race. The vote was described as Serbia's most contested parliamentary election in more than 14 years. Serbia is a candidate for European Union membership, and the EU is watching the vote closely.

The student movement is largely leaderless. Most Students' List candidates are not students but professionals, from fields such as academia and the arts, with little political experience.

According to DW, the constitution bars Vucic from a third presidential term. His second term had been due to expire in May 2027. France 24 reported that 6.4 million voters were choosing from 18 parties for the 250-member parliament, with a 3 percent threshold for entry. Al Jazeera reported that voters were turning out in large numbers. France 24 said the official tally was not expected before Monday. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not include results, exit polls or turnout figures.

According to France 24, local elections in 10 municipalities earlier this year saw violent attacks on journalists and activists. The 2023 parliamentary election was followed by opposition protests alleging fraud.

What is disputed

DW describes the movement as Serbia's largest since 2000. SCMP says the disaster triggered some of the country's largest protests since then.

What each side says

Protesters say corruption and political patronage undermined public safety and led to negligence during renovation work at the Novi Sad station, according to DW and France 24. Serbian authorities reject these allegations, DW reported. Critics accuse Vucic of concentrating power and weakening independent media and democratic institutions. Vucic and the SNS deny this, according to DW.

According to France 24, Vucic said his side would concede defeat if it lost. He also warned that any protests claiming fraud after an SNS win would be immediately quashed. Each camp says it is ahead. The Students' List campaigned under the message "we know how".

International and local election monitors expressed concern about the safety and fairness of the campaign, France 24 reported. It described the campaign as marked by detentions, near-total government control over the media, and reports of surveillance and cyberattacks against activists. France 24 quoted Magda Anastasijevic, an Eastern Europe analyst at ACLED, as saying electoral violence could escalate, "particularly if the results are disputed".

Analysis

The outcome remains open, and the reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not include any results. Several scenarios are possible. A clear SNS win would extend the party's 14-year hold on power, though fraud claims could follow, as they did in 2023. A Students' List win would mean a change of government led largely by candidates with little political experience. A narrow result could test both camps' stated positions on accepting the outcome; some analysts fear instability in that case. The EU, which has cited concerns over democratic standards in Serbia, is likely to weigh how the vote and its aftermath are conducted.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.