Serbia votes in election pitting longtime leader against student movement

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.

The students have since gained widespread support, with about 150,000 supporters rallying in central Belgrade on Thursday ahead of the vote.

Vucic resigned as president in September to run again for prime minister, a move that underscores the tightness of the race.

Tight race predicted

Opinion polls are predicting a tight race between Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party and the Student List. An Ipsos poll published on Thursday gives Vucic's party 47 percent of the vote to the students' 40 percent, though other polls have put the students ahead.

Vucic has promised higher pensions and public sector salaries, investment in state healthcare, and subsidies for young couples.

Student movement's agenda

The Student List movement's agenda focuses on rooting out corruption and improving schooling, while saying little about their international ambitions. Their roster of 250 largely unfamiliar candidates, including university professors, actors and farmers, is led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic.

Rights groups and activists say repression has worsened since the deadly train station canopy collapse, which was widely blamed on government corruption and sparked the student demonstrations.

Vucic and his party have repeatedly denied accusations of repression, corruption and spying on their opponents.

Foreign funding allegations

The former president claims the students are funded by foreign agents in Croatia and Montenegro, a charge the students deny.

Vucic has balanced closer ties with China, a major investor, and Russia, Serbia's traditional ally and principal supplier of natural gas, while leaving the door open to joining the European Union.

Relations with the EU have frayed under his leadership, with the bloc growing increasingly frustrated over a lack of reforms addressing the judiciary, the rule of law and corruption.