Youngsters cheer after polls closed in the parliamentary election in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo)
The Kremlin said on Oct. 26 that it hoped Serbia's new political leaders recognised the benefits of cooperation with Russia, after a student-led protest movement beat longtime Moscow-friendly leader Aleksandar Vucic in a national election.
"We would like to express hope... that these new political forces understand that cooperation with Russia is in Serbia's interests, because it brings benefits to Serbia," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Serbia’s student-led movement declared victory in parliamentary elections, ending 14 years in power for Vucic’s right-wing populist party.
The victory in the snap vote comes after nearly two years of anti-government protests sparked by the 2024 collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station that killed 16 people.
The disaster has been widely blamed on corruption and triggered some of Serbia’s largest protests since the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.
Voters cast ballots in huge numbers on Oct. 25, with the country recording its highest parliamentary election turnout in more than three decades.
During his speech to supporters, Vucic said preliminary figures suggested the student movement could win between 135 and 140 seats, handing it an outright majority in the 250-seat parliament.
“I want people to know, this was the validation of a revolution carried out with the direct support of various European countries and the U.S. deep state, the one that is also against President Trump,” Vucic said.
