Serbia

EXPLAINER

Serbia after Vucic: Who will be PM and when will a government be formed?

Uncertainty remains over key positions after student-led movement deals a blow to longtime leader’s political dominance.

Serbia celebrates as ruling party loses grip on power

Serbians celebrate in Belgrade after Aleksandar Vucic, leader of the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party, conceded defeat in the parliamentary elections on October 25, 2026. [Armin Durgut/AP Photo]

Vucic conceded defeat in the elections, which pitted him and his right-wing party against a diverse student-led opposition movement that spent two years protesting against his government. [Marko Drobnjakovic/AP Photo]

The opposition's win is 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, was in power for 14 years. [Armin Durgut/AP Photo]

Almost immediately after the results were announced, crowds flooded the streets of Belgrade and other Serbian cities in celebration. [Milos Milanovic/AFP]

Supporters of the Student List drove around Belgrade in cars, honking horns, singing, shouting and chanting: “Aleksandar is gone.” [Armin Durgut/AP Photo]

Crowds swiftly dismantled the fences and tents at a park in central Belgrade where Vucic loyalists had been camping for more than a year. [Marko Drobnjakovic/AP Photo]

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.” [Andrej Isakovic/AFP]

Voter Maja Stetic said she feels “fantastic”. Vucic's ouster, she said, "means liberation for me, means a new future for us and our children”. [Armin Durgut/AP Photo]

Monitors predicted that voter turnout in the elections could reach about 70 percent, a level unseen in Serbia since 2000. [Armin Durgut/AP Photo]

Long queues had formed at polling stations on October 25, 2026. Some members of the Serbian diaspora were made to vote in the middle of the night after authorities tied voting hours to Serbian time. [Oliver Bunic/AFP]