First, the students demanded punishment for those responsible for the deaths. Then, they won the elections.
At around 9:30 PM on October 25, Aleksandar Vučić reported that he had lost the election. On the streets of Belgrade, people are shouting: “[Itʼs] the end of him!” and “Serbia is finally free!”
A campaign banner of Vučić’s party is being removed from a lamppost, and cheers can be heard from the crowd: “Tear [it] down, tear [it] down!”
Thousands of people with Serbian flags are marching through the city center — from Republic Square to Slavija Square — and drivers are honking their horns. In the center, trumpeters are playing, people are dancing, and balloons in the shape of the number 3 — the number of the “Student List” on the ballot paper — are rising above the crowd.
Supporters of the "Student List" celebrate Vučićʼs defeat in central Belgrade, October 25, 2026. Above the crowd are balloons in the shape of a 3. This is the number under which the "Student List" ran for election. Slavija Square in Belgrade on the night of the "Student List" victory. After Vučić admitted defeat, thousands of people filled the city center.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
It all started two years ago with a tragic incident in the city of Novi Sad. In November 2024, a concrete canopy collapsed at a newly renovated train station. 16 people died.
In memory of the dead, 15-minute silent actions began to be held in Serbian cities, during which streets were blocked. Participants in one of such actions in Belgrade were attacked by people pretending to be angry drivers. Among the attackers — as it later turned out — were officials and activists of Vučićʼs party.
Public outrage grew into mass protests, supported by all universities in the country. The protesters demanded that all documents on the reconstruction of the station be made public, the disaster be investigated, and the persecution of the participants of the actions be stopped.
In May 2025, students began demanding early parliamentary elections. President Vučić refused for over a year. In September 2026, he decided to take a risk, set a date for the vote and headed the list of his Serbian “Progressive Party”. For the sake of parliamentary elections, Vučić left the presidency early, because after winning, he planned to return to power as prime minister.
On the morning of September 14, 2026, a column led by bikers set off from the rectorate of the University of Belgrade to the election commission. Behind them was a copy of the "Victory" — the most famous Belgrade monument, erected in honor of Serbiaʼs victories in the Balkan and World Wars. The figure was given a box with the inscription "Student List — Students Win" in his hand. Trumpeters played a folk melody near the election commission building. People began to dance the Serbian circle.
After that, boxes with signatures were carried to the election commission: 10 000 were needed to register candidates for MPs, and activists of the "Student List" collected more than 69 000. Candidates for "students" were selected at plenums, where they previously decided how to conduct blockades and protests. Each university that participated in opposition actions received its quota according to the number of students, universities searched for future deputies and checked their biographies.
According to the rules, students could not run on their own list. They introduced this ban themselves: they wanted to show that they were not using the protests for their personal political career and were not turning the movement into a party.
The “Student List” also did not include former members of all 20 parties of the ruling coalition and former functionaries of parliamentary opposition parties. Of all the candidates, 250 were left. They did not create a party, but they registered a list of a group of citizens.
Students carry boxes with signatures for their list registration and a copy of the Belgrade monument "The Winner". Belgrade, September 14, 2026. The column heads to the election commission with the banner "Students win!".
Getty Images / «Babel'»
The first on the list is a soldier-cardiologist. The candidate for prime minister has not yet been named.
When Vučić admitted defeat, cardiologist Ilija Srdanović — the first number of the “Student List” — could not hold back tears. For almost 30 years he has worked at the Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases of Vojvodina (a region in northern Serbia), and since 2018 he has also taught emergency medicine at the University of Novi Sad.
Srdanović has supported the students from day one — he spoke at protests and provided assistance to people injured during clashes with the police. Srdanović is 56 years old, he calls himself a soldier.
In one of his interviews, he talked about the three stages of his life: first he was mobilized and, by his own definition, “stood with a gun in his hands”, then he became “a soldier of his profession” and saved patients, and now he is fighting for the future of the country. Srdanović does not specify where and in which army he served.
He was born in 1970 in Novi Sad (then part of Yugoslavia). Given his age and place of birth, it is likely that he served during the wars of the 1990s, either in the Yugoslav Peopleʼs Army or in the Army of Yugoslavia, which replaced it in 1992.
Five days before the elections, Srdanović was asked directly whether he would become prime minister. He replied that students were considering several people for each position, avoiding a direct answer.
Cardiologist Ilija Srdanović (the number one candidate of the “Student List”) celebrates at the election headquarters after Vučić conceded defeat. Belgrade, October 25, 2026.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Winners promise to check the assets of officials and fire police officers who beat protesters.
The "Students" went to the elections with an 11-point program, the main promise of which was to fight corruption and cleanse the government of Vučićʼs associates. The program is formulated in three sections.
In the first — "Serbia or Mafia" — the list proposes creating a police force subordinate to prosecutors that would investigate corruption. They want to check the property of Vučićʼs officials, confiscate illegally acquired property, and make public and review state contracts. They plan to dismiss those involved in organized crime and the beating of protesters from the police.
The second section — “Knowledge is Power” — concerns education, appointments to public positions, and support for local businesses. The heads of state-owned companies are proposed to be elected in open competitions based on professional qualities, schoolchildren are promised free textbooks, and entrepreneurs, farmers, and startups are promised grants and subsidies. Universities and research institutes want to be involved in cooperation with business.
The third one — “Serbia Grows with Us” — contains promises related to jobs, housing, prices, and medicine. Young families, educators, and doctors are promised affordable housing, as well as tax breaks. The program also includes a review of food prices, uniform drug prices across the country, the restoration of rural clinics, and encouragement of young doctors to work in remote communities.
Participants in the rally in support of the “Student List” hold up copies of the Constitution of Serbia. One of the movementʼs main demands was to return the country to the rule of law.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
A supporter of “Wagner” campaigned for the "Students". The list includes opponents of sanctions against Russia and supporters of the EU.
Four days before the vote, far-right activist Damnjan Knezevic spent almost an hour telling the YouTube channel “Srbin.info” how the government is persecuting the opposition and may rig the elections.
He explained to the anti-Western and pro-Russian portal why it is time for Serbia to get rid of Vučić and support the students. For Knezevic, Vučić is not pro-Russian enough. Knezevic led the “People’s Patrols”, whose members dressed in black, intimidated migrants, and held rallies in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In November 2022, Knezevic visited the “Wagner” Center in St. Petersburg. He himself did not make it to the “Student List”, but he called for votes for its candidates, primarily academician Radomir Saičić, rapper Feđa Dimović, and former basketball team captain Dejan Bodiroga.
Bodiroga — as president of the Euroleague — regularly maintains contact with Russian basketball leadership and traveled to Moscow after the suspension of Russian teams from international competitions. He calls Russian aggression a "conflict between Russia and Ukraine".
Far-right Serbian activist Damnjan Knezevic (third from right) at the “Wagner” Center in St. Petersburg, November 2022. Participants in the meeting hold a flag with the inscription "Donbas [is] Russia, Kosovo [is] Serbia."
The “Student List” member Radomir Saičić teaches organic chemistry at the University of Belgrade, and in his political speeches he accuses Vučić of making excessive concessions to Kosovo.
He calls Kosovo a “temporarily occupied territory”. He does not propose returning the region by military means, but wants to negotiate better conditions for local Serbs. He calls Russia a necessary partner because it supports Belgrade’s position in the UN Security Council.
Rapper and lawyer Feđa Dimović from the band “Beogradski sindikat” has been ridiculing Vučić and his entourage for years. For example, in the song "Ja pišam po sirotinji", the musicians rap on behalf of Vučić and his associates — the name of the song conveys the contempt with which they treat citizens.
In the video "Sorry, Serbia", a fully-equipped policewoman dances a striptease near a pole, and clubgoers shower her with banknotes. Thus, Dimović explained, the band showed the attitude of politicians to state institutions, which they dispose of as their own property.
Dimović called the Russian invasion of Ukraine aggression and a violation of international law. At the same time, he criticizes the supply of weapons to Kyiv and anti-Russian sanctions, and speaks out against NATO.
Cardiologist Ilija Srdanović (left) and rapper Feđa Dimović. “Our future prime minister! Students win!” Dimović captioned this selfie he posted on September 14, 2026. The band "Beogradski sindikat" performs before the participants of the student action. Its musicians have been ridiculing Vučić and his entourage for years, and rapper Feđa Dimović became a candidate for the "Student List".
Instagram / fedjadimovic
The day after the victory of the “Students”, another candidate from the list — sociologist Jovo Bakić — appeared on RT Balkan (the Serbian channel of the Russian network “Russia Today”).
He called Russia a great power, a historically important partner and “protector” of Serbia. Bakić said that Serbian sanctions would not change anything for Russia, but would be a bad symbolic step. He reminded that the Serbs had also lived under UN sanctions in the 1990s.
Based on these statements, it is easy to imagine the entire list as pro-Russian, but Serbian foreign policy researcher Vuk Vuksanović warns against such generalizations.
“This is a broad movement, with left and right, pro-Western and pro-Russian voters. The pro-European part is significant, but it does not define the entire list,” he tells Babel.
The candidates were united by dissatisfaction with corruption and Vučić. According to Vuksanović, Russia, the EU and the rivalry of great powers played a smaller role in these elections than in any other in Serbia over the past 26 years.
According to polls, three-quarters of the “Students” supporters preferred rapprochement with the European Union when choosing between the EU and Russia. Officially, the “Students” have already stated that the final decision on EU membership will be made in a referendum, there will be no sanctions against Russia, but they support the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Serbian ammunition was delivered to Ukraine through intermediaries. What will happen to these supplies after the elections is still unknown.
Under Vučić, Serbian factories sold ammunition to American and European companies, who then transferred it to Ukraine. In June 2024, the Financial Times estimated that such supplies since the start of the full-scale war were worth approximately €800 million.
Vučić did not deny these figures and explained — Serbia sells products to buyers in the USA, the Czech Republic and Spain, and where they take them next is their business.
In 2025, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service twice accused Serbian companies of supplying Ukraine with missiles and mortar ammunition via the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. And on June 23 of the same year, Vučić reported that he was stopping all exports, and the Serbian Ministry of Defense reported that further supplies would have to be approved by the National Security Council.
Although, a few months later, in November, Vučić again offered EU countries to buy Serbian ammunition, assuming that it would later end up in Ukraine. He explained this by the needs of the factories — almost 30 000 employees depend on sales.
After that, accurate data on the volume of Serbian exports was not publicly reported.
Vladimir Putin receives Aleksandar Vučić in the Kremlin, May 9, 2025. Volodymyr Zelensky and Aleksandar Vučić inspect the guard of honor in front of the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade, August 8, 2026.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Representatives of the “Student List” have not yet officially announced whether they will stop selling weapons to Western intermediaries who transfer them to Ukraine.
At the same time, the list is critical of the supply of weapons to war participants. For example, Feđa Dimović, back in April 2022, when speaking about Ukraine, complained: “Instead of seeking peace, weapons are being massively supplied from all sides.”
According to Vuksanovićʼs forecast, foreign policy will change the least after the elections. Serbia will continue not to recognize Kosovo, will not impose sanctions against Russia, and will not apply for NATO membership. Cooperation between the Russian and Serbian intelligence services may decrease.
At the same time, Vuksanović believes that Belgrade will continue to recognize Crimea and Donbas as Ukrainian.
"Belgrade will most likely seek to maintain friendly and benevolent relations with Kyiv, while at the same time protecting its interests in relations with Russia," he tells Babel.
Serbian foreign policy researcher Vuk Vuksanović expects that after the change of power, Belgrade will continue to maintain relations with both Kyiv and Moscow.
X / Vuk Vuksanovic
After the celebrations, Serbia will have to negotiate oil and gas. Both issues are related to Russia.
On October 30, five days after the elections, the American permit for the operation of NIS expires. It owns the only large oil refinery in Serbia, in Pančevo.
The company supplies up to 80% of the oil products consumed by the country, and almost 56% of its shares are owned by Russian owners, “Gazprom” structures. It is because of Russian ownership that NIS has come under US sanctions and therefore operates under temporary licenses from Washington.
NIS has already asked to extend the validity of the next license. The Russian share is to be bought by the Hungarian company MOL, but the deal has not yet been finalized.
By the end of the year, the "Students" will also have to negotiate about gas. The long-term contract with Russia ended in 2025, and since then, supplies have been extended for several months. The latest agreement is valid until December 31, 2026. Through the gas pipeline with Bulgaria, Serbia already receives gas from other suppliers, but “Gazprom” remains the largest.
The new government will have to decide whether to negotiate a new contract with it or continue to increase purchases from other countries. Vuk Vuksanović believes that it is gas and support for Serbiaʼs position on Kosovo that will preserve the role of Belgrade as an important partner for Moscow.
The government and president have yet to be elected. The "Students" have not yet named candidates for these positions.
The “Student List” received over 52% of the vote in the elections and can form a government on its own. After the election commission announces the final results, a new parliament is to convene within a month. The MPs will have 90 days to approve the prime minister and the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Vučić is also running for parliament. He ran as the first number on the United Serbia list, which, according to preliminary results, will have over a hundred MPs. Having admitted defeat, Vučić has already promised to continue the fight, saying, like, “we will show them what the opposition is”.
Aleksandar Vučić answers questions from journalists after voting in Belgrade, October 25, 2026. That same evening, he admitted his partyʼs defeat.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Serbia is also due to elect a president by the end of December. Vučić resigned on September 27, hoping to win parliamentary elections and become the head of government. His presidential duties are being temporarily carried out by Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić. But by law, elections must be held within three months — by December 27.
It is unknown whether the “Students” will nominate their own candidate for president.
Vuksanović expects friendly gestures towards the EU from the new government, but doubts about quick membership. The government will be busy with internal problems, and the European Union has its own difficulties and cannot guarantee Serbia membership. In addition, there is the issue of trust in Brussels.
“Some Serbs will continue to reproach the European Union for what, in their opinion, has been indulgent towards the Vučić government for years,” the political scientist tells Babel.