Serbia votes as strongman Vučić faces grassroots challenge to 12-year rule – Europe live

Not necessarily that much in substance, but definitely a change in optics. Unlike most European leaders – with the exception of ousted Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and his loyal Slovak ally Robert Fico – Vučić has maintained closed ties with Russia, despite the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Last year, he and Fico even controversially joined the Russian Victory Parade in Moscow. He remains a vocal advocate of “dialogue” with Russia, which he believes to be “a rational, pragmatic” approach to foreign policy. He regularly warns that Europe’s current trajectory makes a third world war “inevitable” and is a stern critic of what he sees as dangerous military buildup across the continent.

He said in a recent interview with a Russian media personality, Ksenia Sobchak: “It’s like in Chekhov’s plays: if there’s a rifle hanging on the wall in the first act, that rifle will fire in the third act.” Vučić has repeatedly rejected any suggestion of imposing sanctions on Russia given the clo

Serbia has been a candidate country since 2012, with some technical progress made in the last 15 years – but only two “chapters” have been actually closed. The last “milestone” marked on the EU’s website dates to 2021, showing the process has been effectively frozen for the last five years.

The European Commission’s latest rule of law report highlighted several concerns about the country’s justice system, anti-corruption framework, media freedom, and institutional checks and balances. Belgrade also regularly faces criticism over its close ties with Russia and China. On top of that, in September, the EU strongly condemned the hero’s funeral granted to Ratko Mladić, a Serbian general convicted of orchestrating the worst massacre in Europe since the second world war. The EU’s enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said “the glorification surrounding [Mladić’s] death is incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built.”

In July, Vučić conceded that Serbia was unlikely to enter the bl

The roots of the student movement trace back to the 2024 Novi Sad disaster, where 16 people were killed after an outdoor concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Serbia’s second largest city.

Inquiries into the causes of the incident revealed slipshod construction along with allegations of fraud and corruption, prompting relentless mass protests demanding transparency and accountability about the incident.

The demonstrations – primarily organised by students – were frequently met with violence, persecution and extensive surveillance by the authorities, with Vučić repeatedly floating unsubstantiated claims of foreign interference. When Belgrade students blocked a road in a vigil for the victims three weeks after the disaster, they were attacked by a pro-government mob and the protest movement went nationwide.

The student movement eventually morphed into a more political – but not partisan - one. As Julian Borger noted recently, “Unable to crush the students by force, division or

Europe correspondent Aleksandar Vučić’s SNS anchors the “United Serbia” list. The party relies on control of the public purse, favourable media coverage and strong nationalist backing, but its campaign has been overshadowed by accusations of systemic voter manipulation.

The Student List eschews party hierarchies or a single figurehead, preferring locally respected academics and professionals, and operates through university networks. Its quickfire, humorous campaign has mobilised large numbers of disengaged voters.

That means Serbia’s traditional opposition parties have been largely marginalised, with their collective support falling from 30% to 10-15%. Some parties have switched allegiance to the Student List. Others, such as European Serbia, may not clear the 3% electoral threshold. Meanwhile, Serbia’s rightwing, nationalist bloc is riven with disagreements and has been further weakened by the unexpected withdrawal of the We the Power of the People party over allegations of Russian i

Serbia’s former president and now prime ministerial candidate (again) Aleksandar Vučić rose to prominence in the 1990s as a radical nationalist, who supported the policies of Serbian expansion and ethnic cleansing led by Slobodan Milošević, who died of a heart attack in detention in The Hague during his trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

He served as Milošević’s information minister throughout the Kosovo conflict. His Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS, has been in government since 2012. He first spent three years as the prime minister from 2014, before switching to the role of the president in 2017. Unable to run for the third term, he resigned from the post in September, and now wants to lead the government again. As president, Vučić has not emulated his predecessor’s militarism, but he has maintained his nationalist playbook in domestic politics, dismissing the opposition as stooges of unspecified foreign powers. He maint

Dobro veče, or good evening, and welcome to our live coverage of Serbian election night.

The grassroots protest movement, the Student List, is taking on the country’s increasingly authoritarian leader, Aleksandar Vučić, in what is shaping up to be the sternest test of his 12-year grip on power. The vote is a culmination of two years of student-led protests triggered by the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy in November 2024, which killed 16 people and uncovered massive government and institutional corruption. The bottom-up leaderless movement, with 250 candidates democratically elected from people with limited political experience but distinguished professional careers, seeks to end Vučić’s rule and rewire the state, with focus on fighting alleged corruption, clientelism and power abuses of the past.

Polls opened at 7am (6am UK time) and close at 8pm (7pm UK time). Until then, we’ll bring you all the key background, explain why it matters for Europe, Ukraine, and you, and

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