Australia

Canberra, 26 October 2026. SBS, the ABC, and PerthNow report Aleksandar Vučić's defeat as a political shift after fourteen years of power. On Sunday, 25 October, during the early legislative elections called in September, the Serbian leader acknowledged: "It is clear that we have lost these elections. The Student List has won." He projected between 135 and 140 seats for them and 105 for his party, out of 250: "no one else has entered Parliament."

The narrative goes back to the origin of the movement: the collapse, in 2024, of the canopy of the Novi Sad train station, which killed 16 people. The ABC and PerthNow speak of nearly two years of protests against perceived corruption and rampant authoritarianism. SBS specifies that the disaster was largely attributed to corruption and triggered some of the largest protests since the fall of Slobodan Milošević in 2000.

Turnout is highlighted: nearly 70%, the highest since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, according to the ABC, the strongest in over three decades, according to SBS, with long lines in front of polling stations, "a sign of a desire for change". A representative sample from CESID-IPSPS cited by the ABC gives 138 seats to the Student List and 104 to the SNS.

Street scenes occupy an important place: horns blaring in Belgrade, cries of "victory", students in tears at the Student List's headquarters. Mila Martic tells AFP: "I feel like I'm finally living in a free country." Professor Radomir Sajcic says on behalf of the students: "Tonight we celebrate the victory. Tomorrow we build the future."

The articles also recall that Vučić, supported by Vladimir Putin, had denounced the movement as a foreign-led attempt to oust him. PerthNow mentions a "leaderless youth movement" that has shaken his grip and speaks of a "political earthquake" in the Balkans. The same text reports tensions during the vote: riot police around the electoral commission, violent incidents reported by local media. Earlier, SBS highlighted the attention of the European Union, with Serbia being a candidate, and the possible resonance of a student victory in other European countries.