Serbia’s Student List has won a landslide parliamentary election victory, ending Aleksandar Vučić’s hold on power months after Viktor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary. The Serbian movement, formed less than two years ago, secured 140 seats in the 250-seat parliament in last Sunday’s vote. Péter Magyar’s Tisza party also won 140 seats when it defeated Orbán in April, although Hungary’s parliament has 199 members.
The victorious movements have different structures. Tisza revolves around Magyar’s leadership and personal appeal, while Serbia’s students describe their movement as having no leadership. Both campaigns, however, drew strength from young people using technology to organise voters and protect the ballot. Turnout reached 79% in Hungary and 69% in Serbia. Activists used artificial intelligence tools to analyse figures, flag potential electoral threats and mobilise tens of thousands of monitors.
Hungarian activists shared their experience with Serbian students during summer workshops, before Serbia’s election had been called. Last weekend, Hungary’s DE civic action group deployed 70 monitors to work alongside student representatives at polling stations in Vojvodina, northern Serbia. Their preparations included identifying districts where unusually strong results for the governing party in previous elections suggested possible intimidation or chain voting.
Péter Klemm, a student activist from Subotica, told the BBC that groups of masked Vučić supporters began gathering near polling stations from around 16:00 on election day. Volunteers responded by dispatching mobile teams and filming events. Klemm believes the presence of 20 to 30 volunteers at each threatened station, alongside monitors already stationed there, deterred interference. Masked and hooded groups also assembled in central Belgrade an hour before voting ended.
The defeats followed 16 years in office for Orbán and 14 for Vučić. Both had brought state institutions under their control and developed business networks extending across the two countries. When they met in Subotica last November, their discussions included a proposed Hungarian purchase of Serbia’s Nis oil refinery. They also shared close relations with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, and support for Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik.
Vučić conceded at 21:30 on Sunday, matching the time Orbán acknowledged defeat on 12 April. Few observers had anticipated peaceful concessions from either man. Speculation that Orbán advised Vučić against using force remains unconfirmed. Vučić denied speaking to him before conceding but acknowledged a later call at 23:15. Orbán declined to comment to the BBC.
Magyar was the only European leader to telephone the Serbian students directly with congratulations that evening. He told the BBC he welcomed the possibility that Tisza’s experience could inspire other countries. Before the vote, Student List head Ilija Srdanović had said Hungary’s result reinforced the movement’s confidence in its approach.
Both former leaders may now face prosecution over corruption and abuse of power. Hungarian companies close to Orbán were involved in construction work at Novi Sad railway station, where a canopy collapse killed 16 people on 1 November 2024. The disaster, blamed on corruption and negligence, triggered Serbia’s student movement. Special prosecutors in the two countries have similar powers and could assist one another.
