DOMINANT ANGLE
Bern takes from Vučić's defeat the victory of a movement born out of the Novi Sad drama, which the Swiss press presents as a sanction of corruption and an affair that also affects its diaspora.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Vučić has acknowledged defeat: the Student List would get 135 to 140 seats, the SNS around 105 (SRF News).
- 02
According to CRTA, the Student List gathers 51.5% of the votes against 40.4% for the SNS, with turnout close to 70%, the highest since 1992.
- 03
Over 4000 registered voters could only vote in Bern and Zurich, with up to eight hours of waiting in front of the Zurich consulate.
ANALYSIS
Berne, October 26, 2026. In the Swiss press, Aleksandar Vučić's defeat is first told through the terrain. Le Temps describes, as early as 6:30 am on Sunday, October 25, a line in front of a primary school in the Zvezdara neighborhood of Belgrade, "traditionally acquired by the opposition". Mila, 66, a retired teacher, who demonstrated against Milošević and then against Vučić, explains that she wants to show "our determination" through a massive and early vote. The newspaper notes queues of one kilometer in Novi Beograd and the chant "I want three kisses", which has become the anthem of the Student List, number 3 on the ballots.
SRF News reports that Vučić has acknowledged defeat while only projections existed. According to him, the Student List would obtain between 135 and 140 seats, his party around 105. The channel cites the CRTA observation group: 51.5% for the Student List, 40.4% for the SNS, no other party above the 3% threshold. Participation is approaching 70%, an unprecedented level since 1992. The students' spokesperson, Professor Radomir Sajcic, says: "Today we celebrate the victory, tomorrow we shape the future."
A commentary by SRF, titled "A success for democracy", reads the result as a rejection of corruption. It describes an elite that many Serbs consider a "mafia", takes the collapse of the canopy of the Novi Sad train station, which killed 16 people, as a symbol, and recalls that the movement remained in the streets for nearly two years before creating a list. It also evokes Vučić's control over a large part of the media and a policy based on division.
The Swiss dimension appears through the diaspora. More than 4,000 voters had registered in Switzerland, but could only vote in Berne and Zurich. In front of the Zurich consulate, the line sometimes reached half a kilometer and some people waited eight hours. Ivana Heusser, a game group animator, says that her name and that of her son were missing from the list, unlike that of her husband, and she was initially unable to vote. That same morning, Vučić had declared: "The will of the people is the will of God."
