DOMINANT ANGLE
Kyiv gauges Vučić's downfall in terms of geopolitics: the defeat of the man NV Ukraine called "Poutine's last friend" in Europe is set against a backdrop where Budapest has already shifted in April.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Vučić: "It is clear that we have lost these elections, the Student List has won", with 135 to 140 seats out of 250 for the students and 105 for the SNS (Ukrinform, citing Reuters).
- 02
CeSID and Ipsos forecast 52.9% for the Student List and 38.8% for Vučić's bloc (NV Ukraine).
- 03
Kyiv Post compares the election to Viktor Orbán's defeat in Hungary in April and sees it as a possible model for other student movements in Europe.
ANALYSIS
Kyiv, October 26, 2026. The Ukrainian press reports on Aleksandar Vučić's admission of defeat following Sunday's early legislative elections on October 25. Ukrinform, citing Reuters, quotes his words spoken after the polling stations closed: "It is clear that we have lost these elections, the Student List has won."
According to these preliminary projections, the students would obtain between 135 and 140 seats out of 250, compared to 105 for the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). NV Ukraine, for its part, relays the forecast from the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) and Ipsos: 52.9% of the votes for the Student List, 38.8% for the former president's party, referred to as "United Serbia". The compiled articles do not report any official reaction from Kyiv at this stage.
Kyiv Post puts the election into perspective: the death of 16 people in the collapse of the canopy of the Novi Sad train station in 2024, followed by nearly two years of protests against perceived corruption and "rampant authoritarianism". The newspaper notes unusually long lines in Belgrade and Novi Sad from the opening at 7 am, and quotes Ana, 30 years old: "I came early because the students called us."
The same media sees an echo of Viktor Orbán's defeat in Hungary in April, and a possible "model" for other European student movements. However, it recalls that Vučić is a solid incumbent: many voters thank him for having pulled Serbia out of economic darkness, with new highways, railways, schools, and hospitals.
Before the vote, NV Ukraine headlined "Putin's last friend", immediately framing the election in the context of Moscow's neighborhood. Ukrinform recalls Vučić's career: Prime Minister in 2014, President since May 31, 2017, re-elected in April 2022, and then resigned at the end of September to run for the position of Prime Minister. The available texts do not yet detail what the change in majority would imply for Belgrade's position towards the European Union or Russia, nor the composition of the future government.
SOURCES (3)
- Kyiv PostMEDIUM
- NV UkraineMEDIUM
