Serbia’s Vucic loses election, accuses EU and US ‘deep state’ of meddling: As it happened

The bloc’s leaders rushed to congratulate the student-led opposition on its projected victory before the official vote count was complete

Serbia’s student-led opposition is leading in Sunday’s snap parliamentary election, according to preliminary results. Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has accused unnamed European powers and anti-Trump forces in the US of meddling in the vote to “bring down a sovereign country.”

According to preliminary results published by the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) early Monday, the opposition Student List leads with 51.84% of the vote, compared with 39.77% for Vucic’s United Serbia coalition, with nearly 93% of polling stations reporting.

The official figures have moved closer to the final projection by pollster Ipsos and election monitor CeSID overnight, which put the Student List at 52.9% and Vucic’s coalition at 38.8%, based on their stratified sample.

In his remarks earlier on election night, Vucic accused foreign powers of helping engineer his political downfall, describing the vote as the “verification of a revolution” carried out with direct support from “various European countries and the American deep state,” which he said was opposed to US President Donald Trump.

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“I congratulate them, although they are merely the executors, the executors of dirty work devised by someone else to bring down a sovereign country,” Vucic said, referring to the student-led opposition.

“You have succeeded for the moment. For how long? We shall see,” he added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa were quick to congratulate the Student List, issuing virtually identical statements on X. Both pledged Brussels’ support for reforms and efforts to advance Serbia’s integration into the EU.

Vucic also warned that a new government could impose sanctions on Russia within months, despite opposition representatives insisting that Belgrade’s policy toward Moscow would remain unchanged.

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The former Serbian leader nevertheless pledged to respect the electorate’s decision and continue his political struggle from the opposition, dismissing speculation that he would flee the country.

“I love Serbia. I will never leave Serbia,” Vucic declared, insisting that his party would remain united and politically active.

The election follows nearly two years of political unrest sparked by the deadly collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad in November 2024, which killed 16 people and fueled allegations of corruption and failures in safety oversight. Vucic resigned as president on September 27 to participate in the parliamentary race.

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