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Aleksandar Vucic Concedes Defeat in Serbian Election
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Serbia's longtime nationalist leader, Aleksandar Vucic, conceded defeat in the parliamentary election after nearly two years of student-led protests weakened his grip on power. Tens of thousands of people celebrated in Belgrade as the Student List emerged as the clear winner.
Aleksandar Vucic Concedes Defeat in Serbian Election - The New York Times
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Europe|Serbia’s Longtime Strongman Concedes Defeat in Parliamentary Election
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/25/world/europe/serbia-vucic-election-defeat.html
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Serbia’s Longtime Strongman Concedes Defeat in Parliamentary Election
“It is clear that we have lost these elections,” Aleksandar Vucic said in a surprisingly early speech congratulating his opponents.
Listen · 6:09 min
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!A crowd of people at night cheers with raised arms. A large, brightly lit digital screen in the background displays a man in a suit and text in Cyrillic.
*People cheering after the polls closed in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sunday. Above them was a campaign ad for Aleksandar Vucic, the defeated leader.Credit...Armin Durgut/Associated Press*
By Andrew Higgins and Alisa Dogramadzieva
Reporting from Belgrade, Serbia
Oct. 25, 2026Updated 7:10 p.m. ET
See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google
Serbia’s longtime nationalist strongman, Aleksandar Vucic, conceded defeat Sunday in a general election held after his once-tight grip on power was weakened by nearly two years of student-led street protests.
Serbia’s vote for a new Parliament came just six months after voters in neighboring Hungary rejected their own populist nationalist leader, Viktor Orban, a close ally of Mr. Vucic. The Serbian leader had adopted many of the Hungarian’s authoritarian methods — and, at the end, his gracious acceptance of defeat, as well.
“It is clear that we have lost these elections,” Mr. Vucic said in a surprisingly early speech congratulating the victors, a new political grouping called Student List-Students Win. He said that the slate of candidates selected by protesting students had won at least 135 seats in Serbia’s 250-member legislature, compared with around 105 for his own party.
Mr. Vucic’s speech set off joyous celebrations by tens of thousands of mostly young people in central Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Car horns honked and flares lit the sky as the crowd, waving Serbian flags and cheering, welcomed a day that many feared would never arrive.
Image
!A red streetcar full of people at night. People lean out of windows, cheering, one holding a red, white, and blue flag.
*Supporters of the Students’ List celebrated in downtown Belgrade on Sunday.Credit...Oliver Bunic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images*
“For the first time in my adult life, I’m seeing a change of government. After so many years under the same leadership, I’m happy that I’ll finally get to live in a free, normal country,” said Milos Milutinovic, 24, an engineering student.
**Corrected on**
Oct. 25, 2026
:
An earlier version of a caption accompanying this article gave an incorrect name provided by The Associated Press for the photographer who took a photo of a cheering crowd in Belgrade. It was Armin Durgut, not Marko Drobnjakovic.
We acknowledge mistakes in our reporting with corrections. If you spot an error, please let us know at [email protected] more.
Andrew Higgins is the East and Central Europe bureau chief for The Times based in Warsaw.
A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 26, 2026, Section A, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Serbia’s Longtime Strongman Concedes Election Defeat, and Joy Erupts in Capital. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
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Skip to contentSkip to site index
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Europe|Serbia’s Longtime Strongman Concedes Defeat in Parliamentary Election
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/25/world/europe/serbia-vucic-election-defeat.html
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Serbia’s Longtime Strongman Concedes Defeat in Parliamentary Election
“It is clear that we have lost these elections,” Aleksandar Vucic said in a surprisingly early speech congratulating his opponents.
Listen · 6:09 min
*
*
*
!A crowd of people at night cheers with raised arms. A large, brightly lit digital screen in the background displays a man in a suit and text in Cyrillic.
*People cheering after the polls closed in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sunday. Above them was a campaign ad for Aleksandar Vucic, the defeated leader.Credit...Armin Durgut/Associated Press*
By Andrew Higgins and Alisa Dogramadzieva
Reporting from Belgrade, Serbia
Oct. 25, 2026Updated 7:10 p.m. ET
See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google
Serbia’s longtime nationalist strongman, Aleksandar Vucic, conceded defeat Sunday in a general election held after his once-tight grip on power was weakened by nearly two years of student-led street protests.
Serbia’s vote for a new Parliament came just six months after voters in neighboring Hungary rejected their own populist nationalist leader, Viktor Orban, a close ally of Mr. Vucic. The Serbian leader had adopted many of the Hungarian’s authoritarian methods — and, at the end, his gracious acceptance of defeat, as well.
“It is clear that we have lost these elections,” Mr. Vucic said in a surprisingly early speech congratulating the victors, a new political grouping called Student List-Students Win. He said that the slate of candidates selected by protesting students had won at least 135 seats in Serbia’s 250-member legislature, compared with around 105 for his own party.
Mr. Vucic’s speech set off joyous celebrations by tens of thousands of mostly young people in central Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Car horns honked and flares lit the sky as the crowd, waving Serbian flags and cheering, welcomed a day that many feared would never arrive.
Image
!A red streetcar full of people at night. People lean out of windows, cheering, one holding a red, white, and blue flag.
*Supporters of the Students’ List celebrated in downtown Belgrade on Sunday.Credit...Oliver Bunic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images*
“For the first time in my adult life, I’m seeing a change of government. After so many years under the same leadership, I’m happy that I’ll finally get to live in a free, normal country,” said Milos Milutinovic, 24, an engineering student.
**Corrected on**
Oct. 25, 2026
:
An earlier version of a caption accompanying this article gave an incorrect name provided by The Associated Press for the photographer who took a photo of a cheering crowd in Belgrade. It was Armin Durgut, not Marko Drobnjakovic.
We acknowledge mistakes in our reporting with corrections. If you spot an error, please let us know at [email protected] more.
Andrew Higgins is the East and Central Europe bureau chief for The Times based in Warsaw.
A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 26, 2026, Section A, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Serbia’s Longtime Strongman Concedes Election Defeat, and Joy Erupts in Capital. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
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