DOMINANT ANGLE
Paris sees it as a clear-cut decision: the defeat of Aleksandar Vucic, after fourteen years of domination, is viewed as a historic shift driven by the student mobilisation born in Novi Sad.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Vucic stated: "It is clear that we have lost these elections", announcing between 135 and 140 seats for the student list and 105 for his camp.
- 02
Turnout was nearing 65% at 18:00, the highest in over thirty years; the CeSID projection cited by L'Obs gives 52.1% to the student list against 39.3%.
- 03
The movement was born out of the collapse of the Novi Sad train station canopy, which killed 16 people in 2024; Vucic had resigned from the presidency on September 27.
ANALYSIS
Paris, October 26, 2026. The French press is telling the story of an unexpected shift in power. On Sunday, October 25, Aleksandar Vucic, the "dominant figure in Serbian politics for fourteen years" according to Le Monde, conceded defeat in the early legislative elections: "It is clear that we have lost these elections," he told his supporters. He himself estimated the result: "between 135 and 140 seats" for the student movement and 105 for his camp (France 24). L'Obs cites a projection from the CeSID institute: 52.1% of the votes for the student list against 39.3%.
The headlines emphasize the extent of the mobilization. At 6 pm, participation was approaching 65%, the highest in over thirty years; RFI mentions more than 69% according to the first projections. Le Monde recalls that the last strong mobilization, of around 70%, dated back to the ousting of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. Presented by the students as an "anti-Vucic referendum," the election was the first since 2012 to offer a possibility of alternation to 6.4 million voters.
The story goes back to its origin: the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad train station on November 1, 2024, which killed sixteen people. HuffPost sees it as the Serbian symbol of corruption; Le Monde adds that the efforts to conceal evidence and the initial police brutality widened the mobilization. L'Express recalled the day before that Vucic, prevented by the Constitution from seeking a third term, had resigned from the presidency on September 27 to aim for the post of prime minister.
The street scene, relayed by the AFP, occupies a central place: car horns, colored balloons, a student in tears affirming "I feel like I'm finally living in a free country." Ilija Srdanovic, the head of the list, launches: "We will never again have a tyrant in this country." RFI, from Vucic's headquarters, notes that the room was emptying.
Le Monde also reports the reaction of the person concerned, who speaks of "the consolidation of a revolution" carried out with the support of European countries and the "American deep state." The newspaper places the fall in a series: Vucic, an admirer of Orbán, falls six months after his Hungarian ally, and the Socialist Party, founded by Milosevic, appears to be leaving the Assembly for the first time in thirty-six years. The CRTA reported "a significant number of irregularities and incidents," without major confirmed violence by the authorities (Sud Ouest).
SOURCES (5)
- Le Monde InternationalMEDIUM
- HuffPost FranceMEDIUM
- L'ObsMEDIUM
