Hungary

Budapest, October 26, 2026. The Hungarian press followed the Serbian election on Sunday, October 25, hour by hour. Index published a minute-by-minute feed of the official results from the RIK commission: at 21:15, Vučić's list was leading with 54.21%, then the gap reversed as the count continued, with the Student List taking the lead around 22:45. HVG, with two correspondents in Belgrade, reported that Vučić acknowledged his defeat shortly before 21:30 and reprinted the Ipsos/CeSID projection broadcast by N1: 52% for the students against 39.3%, or 138 seats to 104, with a majority set at 126.

Telex and 444 emphasized participation: nearly 68% at 19:00 according to Telex, over 69% at 20:00 according to 444, compared to 55% three years earlier. Index cited the CRTA, which deemed this rate "rekordmagas" and placed it among the highest since 2000, the year of Milošević's fall. HVG also relayed the observers: pressure in 29% of the polling stations monitored by the CRTA, suspicions of vote-buying, and over two hundred reports received by CeSID.

Vučić's speech was detailed. Telex noted that he acknowledged defeat about an hour and a half after the close, but spoke about the winners in a way that made his supporters feel that Serbia was in danger. 444 quoted his phrase: the winners are only "executors" of a dirty job designed elsewhere "to destroy a sovereign country," and he announced sanctions against Russia in March or April. He also claimed the votes of Serbs from Montenegro, North Macedonia, and the Republika Srpska. The only other elected officials mentioned were the three deputies of the Alliance of Hungarians of Vojvodina, one Albanian seat, and one Bosnian seat, according to 444.

The national angle was clear. Prime Minister Péter Magyar commented on Facebook: "Ismerős?" (Does it ring a bell?), drawing a parallel with the Tisza victory in April, and then congratulated the leaders of the list by phone, assuring them of Hungary's support. Telex reported that the head of the list, Ilija Srdanović, a cardiologist, said he was encouraged by the Hungarian vote and aimed for good neighborly relations. Economist Dejan Šoškić, former governor of the central bank, told 444 that the climate resembled that before the change of regime in Hungary. HVG recalled the origin of the movement: the collapse of the canopy of the Novi Sad train station, which killed 16 people.