Serbia's long-standing leader Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat in snap parliamentary elections to a student-led protest movement, triggering celebrations across the country on Monday.
With 97% of polling stations counted, the Student List secured 52.7% of the vote and 2.25 million votes, while Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party received 39.2% and 1.67 million votes, according to the election commission's preliminary figures. Crowds gathered in Belgrade, Novi Sad and other cities, dancing, chanting "victory", honking car horns and setting off fireworks.
The student movement formed less than two years ago in response to a railway station canopy collapse in Novi Sad that killed 16 people. The disaster was blamed on corruption and negligence. The Student List fielded candidates from across Serbian society, including doctors, actors, academics and sports personalities, rather than operating as a traditional political party.
"It is clear we have lost these elections," Vučić said at Serbian Progressive Party headquarters in Belgrade. He had spent two terms as president and could not seek a third, so ran for prime minister, a post he left in 2017. The SNS party has governed since 2012.
The Student List's lead candidate Ilija Srdanović told BBC Serbian the movement hoped to "free the country from tyranny" and create "a free state". During celebrations, candidate Radomir Saicic said Serbians had demonstrated "no obstacle was greater than their will", according to Reuters.
The anti-corruption movement campaigned on purging officials who broke rules, stopping party loyalists from leading public enterprises, and removing political control from the state broadcaster. The Student List has "no obvious leaders" and members are not accustomed to politics, the BBC noted.
Nebojša Vladisavljević, a political science professor at the University of Belgrade, described the result as "an avalanche that has wiped out an authoritarian regime". He told BBC Serbian the Student List held "absolute legitimacy" to govern.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said "a new chapter can begin for Serbia. The door to the EU is open". Hungary's Prime Minister Péter Magyar welcomed the result, noting it mirrored his own party's defeat of Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule in April.
Russia's Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov praised Vučić's contributions to Russian relations and expressed hope the new leadership would cooperate with Moscow, stating it "takes two to tango".
Presidential elections are scheduled for December. Parliament speaker Ana Brnabić currently holds the president's role in a caretaker capacity.