Russia

Moscow, October 26, 2026. The Russian press reports on Aleksandar Vučić's defeat, immediately linking it to Belgrade's foreign policy. RIA Novosti, citing his speech at the headquarters of his movement, reports: "It is clear that we have lost these elections, the Student List has beaten us." According to him, they will have 135 to 140 seats, compared to around 105 for his "Serbia United" coalition, and no one else will enter the Skupština. Interfax and Vedomosti relay the same statement, emphasizing that the final results are not yet known. RT notes that Vučić did not specify the source of his estimates, which he linked to a stratified sample.

The common thread is the future of relations with Moscow. TASS and RIA repeat Vučić's warning: he fears that sanctions against Russia will be adopted "in March or April" and that the new leaders will do "everything we didn't want". He attributes the adverse victory to direct support from European countries and the American "deep state", the faction opposed to Donald Trump. TASS adds that the Student List had previously stated that it rejects anti-Russian sanctions. On the morning of the vote, Sputnik quoted Vučić hoping for strengthened cooperation with Russia and welcoming the support expressed by Vladimir Putin and Robert Fico.

The political tone hardens in the commentary. Senator Sergei Perminov, a member of the observation mission of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS, tells RIA that Vučić's opponents used the vote to enlist Belgrade in the Western camp, with the support of Brussels. He believes that abandoning the traditions of Russian-Serbian cooperation would be "undesirable for many in Serbia".

The domestic context is treated more briefly. TASS and RT recall that the student movement was born out of the collapse of the Novi Sad train station canopy in November 2024, which killed 16 people. RT mentions the suspicions of corruption and security control failures that followed. Meduza, a Russian-language media outlet in exile, describes chants, horns, and residents on balconies celebrating the victory across the country, according to Danas, and notes that the list was formally constituted just over a month earlier. RT also reports Vučić's resignation on September 27, a turnout of 64.89% two hours before the closing, and an Ipsos poll giving 47% to the outgoing coalition and 40% to the students.