Serbia's Vučić Concedes Election Defeat to Student-Led Movement
Long-standing leader acknowledges loss in snap parliamentary election called after protests.
Serbia's populist leader Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat in the country's snap parliamentary election, acknowledging that his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has lost to a student-led protest movement.
"We still do not have final results... it is clear that we have lost these elections," Vučić announced late on Sunday from the SNS headquarters in the capital, Belgrade.
Preliminary figures from Serbia's election commission indicated a record high turnout, which commentators had suggested would favor the opposition.
Vučić, who has been in power for 12 years, had called the snap elections following two years of protests. These demonstrations were initially triggered by the 2024 collapse of a train station canopy in Novi Sad, an incident that resulted in 16 fatalities and was widely perceived as a symbol of corruption and negligence within Serbia.
Following Vučić's concession, celebrations erupted on the streets of Belgrade, with car horns sounding and students chanting "victory."