The electoral defeat of Aleksandar Vucic has ended more than ten years of political dominance in Serbia and given victory to the student-led opposition movement. Questions remain over who will head the next government, whether the protest movement can turn its success at the polls into stable rule, and what the outcome means for ties with the European Union and Russia.
In an interview with RFE/RL's Balkan Service, Ilija Srdanovic, a cardiologist and university professor who led the Student List, said he was above all proud of the citizens who saw the grouping as a way out of years of life under an authoritarian government dominated by one man. He said that man had passed into political history after leaving an "indelible mark of emptiness" over 15 years.
On the question of who will become prime minister, Srdanovic said the Republic Election Commission had not yet announced final results. He expects them to match projections based on representative samples and the ballots counted so far. Once the commission publishes them, the new parliament and its bodies can be formed, followed by a plan for the government. He said the majority group of Student List lawmakers will choose people for government posts. Asked whether he would accept a candidacy, he said yes, but stressed that the list has no single leader and that each position will be filled collectively.
Srdanovic said the list remains committed to European integration, a process Serbia entered in 2000. He said the previous government had lost 20 percent of public support for membership over 15 years, and promised not to repeat that. He added that the new government would align domestic policy with Chapters 23 and 24 of the EU accession talks, which cover rights and the rule of law and are the main obstacles to progress.
Pressed on the Student List's stated refusal to impose sanctions on Russia, he did not announce a change. He argued that many citizens have been kept in a restricted media environment and do not fully understand what the EU offers. Foreign policy, he said, should follow the will of the majority rather than one person, and there will be an open and transparent dialogue in society. Asked whether citizens might decide the matter, he said it could mean exactly that, though he did not specify a mechanism such as a referendum.
On Kosovo, the Student List opposes recognition, in line with Serbia's official position since Pristina declared independence in 2008. Srdanovic said continuing dialogue is a fundamental part of the students' plan and that its approach rests on Serbia's constitution. He said the government would respect internationally agreed protocols, but that agreements signed by Serbian officials, which would include the 2013 Brussels Agreement, may be reviewed for constitutional compliance. That, he said, does not necessarily mean they will be.
Srdanovic said nobody from the circle of Milorad Dodik, the former president of Republika Srpska, had contacted him. He said he hopes for continued cooperation with Republika Srpska and will seek open dialogue and joint solutions for all citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Asked about Srebrenica, he said the courts had defined the position, and pointed to a 2010 declaration by Serbia's parliament that condemned the massacre but did not explicitly call it genocide. When the interviewer noted that the International Court of Justice ruled the crime was genocide, he declined to engage on the issue, saying it had nothing to do with the elections. He said no one on the list bears responsibility for the 1990s, but the previous government does, and that historians should make the final assessments. "Serbia's future lies ahead of us," he said, "and that is what we want to focus on."
