Serbia votes in election pitting longtime leader against student movement

Polls amusement populist person Aleksandar Vucic successful a choky contention against the anticorruption and anti-authoritarian movement.

Serbians are voting successful parliamentary elections amid a wide pupil protestation ⁠movement that seeks to oust longtime populist person Aleksandar Vucic, who has held powerfulness arsenic premier curate and past president for much than a decade.

The drawback elections, called by Vucic successful September, travel astir 2 years of student-led demonstrations against perceived corruption ⁠and creeping authoritarianism, triggered by the deaths of 16 radical erstwhile a bid presumption canopy collapsed successful the metropolis of Novi Sad successful 2024.

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The students person since gained wide support.

A nonaccomplishment for Vucic ⁠would people a profound governmental displacement successful the Balkan state of immoderate 6 cardinal people, reminiscent of the decision of Hungary’s Viktor Orban successful April.

But Vucic, who resigned arsenic president successful September to tally again for premier minister, is simply a beardown incumbent. Many voters convey him for pulling Serbia retired of economical obscurity and ‌orchestrating a play of sustained modernisation.

“The Serbian predetermination ⁠is shaping up to beryllium a watershed infinitesimal for the state arsenic the Student List mounts the biggest situation against Vucic yet,” Mario Bikarski, elder Europe expert astatine hazard consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, told the Reuters quality agency.

During the campaign, Vucic has promised higher pensions and nationalist assemblage salaries, concern successful authorities healthcare, and subsidies for young couples. He has balanced person ties with China, a large investor, and Russia, Serbia’s accepted state and main supplier of earthy gas, portion leaving the doorway unfastened to joining the European Union.

But relations with the EU person frayed nether his leadership, with the bloc increasing progressively frustrated implicit a deficiency of reforms addressing the judiciary, the regularisation of instrumentality and corruption.

The Student List movement’s docket focuses connected rooting retired corruption and improving schooling, portion saying small astir their planetary ambitions.

Their roster of 250 mostly unfamiliar candidates, including assemblage professors, actors and farmers, is led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic.

Supporters question a emblem showing Serbia’s populist person Aleksandar Vucic during a pre-election rally of the governing Serbian Progressive Party successful Novi Sad, Serbia, connected October 16, 2026, up of parliamentary elections [Darko Vojinovic/AP]

Opinion polls are predicting a choky race.

An Ipsos canvass published connected Thursday gives Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party 47 percent ⁠of the ballot to the students’ 40 percent, though different polls person enactment the students ahead.

Rights groups and activists accidental repression has worsened since the deadly bid presumption canopy collapse, which was wide blamed connected authorities corruption and sparked the pupil demonstrations.

About 150,000 supporters of the pupil question rallied successful cardinal Belgrade connected Thursday.

Vucic and his enactment person repeatedly denied accusations of repression, corruption and spying connected their opponents.

The erstwhile president claims the students are funded by overseas agents successful Croatia and Montenegro, a complaint the students deny.