Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat Sunday in an election challenging his long-standing rule, losing to a student-led opposition movement that has protested his right-wing government for two years.
It was a seismic political shift in the Balkan country where Vucic, who had been endorsed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and who denounced the student movement as a foreign-led attempt to unseat him, led with virtually absolute power for 14 years.
Almost immediately, crowds flooded the streets of the capital Belgrade and other Serbian cities in an outburst of euphoric celebration.
Belgrade resident Dragana Kovacevic was thrilled that "everyone greets with smiles." She said "we are all too happy, finally we are becoming one normal and free country."
Maja Stetic said she feels "fantastic." Vucic's ouster, she said, "means liberation for me, means a new future for us and our children."
High turnout and gathering tensions marked the highly contested parliamentary election that was a showdown between Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party and university students who, accusing the government of corruption and dismantling democracy, had built a popular following across the country.
Serbia's 6.4 million voters were electing lawmakers to the 250-member Parliament. In conceding the election, Vucic said his party projects that his opponents, the youth-backed Students' List, will take between 135 and 140 seats while his SNS party will have around 105.
"It is now clear that we have lost and the Students' List has won," Vucic told supporters at his party's election night event, though he blamed Serbia's independent media as well as alleged interference by unnamed European countries and an "American deep state" for the loss.
Vucic said that his SNS party won around 1.7 million votes compared to the Students' List, which he said took around 2.2 million.
Radomir Saicic, a Students' List candidate, said "tonight is not just about results."
"It is about people who believed and continued to fight," he said. "This is a victory over fear ... it is nobody's trophy, it is a citizens victory. But victory carries responsibility."
Supporters of the Students' List drove around Belgrade in cars, honking horns, singing, shouting and chanting: "Aleksandar is gone," referring to Vucic.
Crowds swiftly dismantled the fences and tents at a park in central Belgrade where Vucic's loyalists had been camping for over a year and gathered earlier Sunday. One tent was later set on fire in the now-abandoned camp.
A group of young people could be seen throwing rocks at a withdrawing column of police cars and anti-riot vehicles.
The outcome, which Vucic announced only around an hour and a half after polls closed, came after tensions had built as voting progressed during the day.
Police in anti-riot gear had cordoned off an area in central Belgrade around the election commission headquarters. Special police vehicles could be seen near the pro-Vucic camp, and large groups of black-clad men had congregated at various points throughout the city.
Vucic was seeking become Serbia's prime minister after serving two near-full terms as president. He resigned the presidency last month to lead the campaign.
Support for the populist had eroded since 16 people were killed in 2024 when a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Novi Sad. That set off a wave of youth protests that blamed the collapse on high-level corruption, cronyism and rampant graft during renovation work at the station.
Dijana Hrka, the mother of one of the victims, was in the crowd celebrating in Belgrade. Sobbing, Hrka told N1 television: "I have been waiting for this moment for two years."
"Now I expect that they will all be held accountable," she said.
Despite the protests, Vucic retained considerable support among many of Serbia's voters. Admirers viewed him as a capable leader who can steer the nation through global uncertainties – the image that was carefully crafted by the mainstream media.
While the increasingly authoritarian Vucic has routinely outplayed Serbia's fractured opposition in the past, the leaderless youth movement proved to be a tough opponent that rattled his firm grip on power in Serbia like no one else in the 14 years since his party took office.
The newly formed Students' List movement was shaped by university students but none actually appeared on the election list. Instead, its candidates are little-known experts, athletes, farmers and artists.
This approach was meant to counter Vucic's one-man rule and restore a sense of community and solidarity. The students' message during the campaign focused on a non-partisan effort to rebuild Serbia's economy and restore its democracy.
The students have used youthful energy to attract voters who are disillusioned with local politicians. Vilified by pro-government media, they cycled and walked through the country to reach voters in rural areas – Vucic's traditional strongholds.
The student victory echoed the recent electoral defeat of a Vucic ally in Hungary, where youth participation helped oust the autocratic Viktor Orbán after 16 years and bring in a new pro-European government. It was likely to resonate beyond Serbia as countries across Europe have faced angry youth and student protests.
Monitors predicted that total turnout in the election could reach around 70%, unseen in Serbia since 2000. During the day, long queues formed at polling stations in Serbia and in cities around the world. Some in the Serbian diaspora were made to vote in the middle of the night after authorities tied voting hours to local Serbian time.
Recent Serbian elections had been marred by irregularities and the EU was closely watching the conduct of Sunday's vote in a candidate nation for the bloc's membership.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated the student movement, saying "people of Serbia turned out in record numbers to shape their country's future."
"We stand ready to support reforms on the rule of law, media freedom, the fight against corruption and strong democratic institutions, and to work together to advance Serbia's future in the European Union," she said.
Independent election monitors reported dozens of cases of irregularities Sunday such as photographing of ballots that suggested pressure on voters and attempted vote buying.
Both international and local election monitors had expressed concern about the safety and fairness of an election campaign marked by detentions, near-total government control over the media and reports of surveillance and cyberattacks against activists.
Local elections earlier this year in 10 municipalities in Serbia saw violent attacks on journalists and activists. The previous parliamentary vote in 2023 was followed by opposition protests alleging fraud.
