Student-led coalition ends Vucic's rule, confronts Kosovo, EU and economic reforms

Serbian voters handed a decisive victory to the student-led Student List, bringing an end to Aleksandar Vucic’s prolonged rule and sparking mass celebrations in Belgrade. The coalition views Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, as a temporarily occupied territory and plans to protect Serbian residents there while rejecting previous agreements with Pristina. It deliberately sidestepped a firm EU accession stance, insisting that domestic reforms and the closure of all EU negotiating chapters must precede any membership referendum, a position that clashes with EU requirements for normalised Kosovo relations.

Energy policy remains complex, as Serbia depends on Russian oil and gas supplies and will need US sanctions waivers while awaiting the sale of NIS’s Russian stake to Hungary’s MOL. Anti-corruption measures include creating an independent police unit, banning patronage hires in state firms, and enforcing strict asset-origin audits. Economically, the movement proposes cutting retail monopolies, revising taxes to shift burdens to the wealthy, limiting temporary work, and expanding affordable housing and subsidies to stem the outflow of young professionals.