Serbia votes in election pitting longtime leader against student movement

Polls show populist leader Aleksandar Vucic in a tight race against the anticorruption and anti-authoritarian movement.Published On 25 Oct 202625 Oct 2026Serbians are voting in parliamentary elections amid a mass student protest ⁠movement that seeks to oust longtime populist leader Aleksandar Vucic, who has held power as prime minister and then president for more than a decade.The snap elections, called by Vucic in September, follow almost two years of student-led demonstrations against perceived corruption ⁠and creeping authoritarianism, triggered by the deaths of 16 people when a train station canopy collapsed in the city of Novi Sad in 2024.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘Boiling point’: Why students are protesting against Albania’s Edi Ramalist 2 of 3Israel’s ties with Europe are fraying. Can its election change that?list 3 of 3Bulgarians vote for president in shadow of Russia’s war in Ukraineend of listThe students have since gained widespread support.A loss for Vucic ⁠would mark a profound political shift in the Balkan country of some 6 million people, reminiscent of the defeat of Hungary’s Viktor Orban in April.But Vucic, who resigned as president in September...