Serbia votes in a snap election that pits Vucic against the student movement

Serbia votes today in an election its longtime leader called, against a movement that began with students in the street. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m., with the first indications of the result expected about two hours later.

Aleksandar Vucic has held power for more than a decade, first as prime minister and then as president. He called the snap election in September and resigned the presidency to run for prime minister again. The vote comes after almost two years of student led demonstrations against corruption, which began when a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in 2024 and killed 16 people. The students have since won support well beyond the universities. About 150,000 of their supporters rallied in central Belgrade on Thursday.

The student list runs 250 candidates, most of them unknown to national politics, among them professors, actors and farmers. A cardiologist, Ilija Srdanovic, leads it. The movement's programme concentrates on rooting out corruption and improving schools and says little about foreign policy.

The polls point to a tight race. Ipsos put Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party at 47 percent and the students at 40 percent, as of October 23, and other surveys have put the students ahead. Vucic pledges higher pensions and public sector pay, investment in health care and subsidies for young couples. He says the students are funded by foreign agents in Croatia and Montenegro, a charge they deny. Rights groups say repression has worsened since the canopy collapse. Vucic and his party deny accusations of repression, corruption and spying on opponents.

Reuters noted that a student victory would be a profound shift in a country of some 6 million people, and compared it with the defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orban in April. Vucic has balanced Serbia between China, a major investor, Russia, its traditional ally and main gas supplier, and the open door to the European Union.