Serbia prepares for parliamentary elections amid intense political polarization

Serbia holds parliamentary elections on October 25, 2026, marking a critical confrontation between the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) led by Aleksandar Vucic and the emerging 'Student List – Students Win!' movement. Recent opinion polls show a tight race, with some institutes favoring the opposition student movement and others giving a marginal lead to the incumbent SNS. The political climate remains polarized following two years of anti-government protests, which intensified dramatically after the 2024 collapse of a railway station roof in Novi Sad that killed 16 people.

In a final show of force before the vote, approximately 150,000 citizens gathered in Belgrade on Thursday to support the Student List. This movement, composed primarily of academics and civil society members rather than current students, seeks to end the 14-year dominance of the SNS. While President Vucic has expressed confidence in a victory and pledged to seek post-election reconciliation, he has simultaneously accused the protest movement of being funded by foreign entities to destabilize the nation. With voter turnout expected to exceed 60%, the opposition hopes that high participation will translate into a significant shift in political power. Allegations of voter intimidation and concerns regarding the integrity of the electoral process have also been reported by various sources.