WorldPosted at: Oct 29 2026 10:20PM


Student List's victory in Serbia alters political landscape but also brings in new challenges

Belgrade, Oct 29 (UNI) The victory of Serbia's Student List has fundamentally altered the country's political landscape. But winning the election may prove to have been the easier part.
The movement, which emerged from nearly two years of student protests, secured its victory without a conventional party structure, a clearly identifiable leader or, for much of the campaign, a public list of those who would take charge if it won.
That ambiguity was one of its greatest political strengths. It allowed people with different political views to unite against Aleksandar Vučić's rule without first having to agree on a shared ideological programme. Now, however, the same lack of clarity could become a serious obstacle to governing.
Serbia's future government will face scrutiny from Brussels, Moscow, Beijing and countries across the region, particularly over its foreign policy. The Student List's initial signals suggest that a change of government will not necessarily bring a major geopolitical realignment.
On Russia, several prominent figures have already indicated that the movement does not intend to impose sanctions on Moscow. Jovo Bakić, a sociologist and one of its most recognisable figures, has argued that Russia remains an important historical partner for Serbia. Sanctions imposed by a country of Serbia's size, he said, would have little practical effect while carrying considerable symbolic consequences.
Radomir Saičić, an academician of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Chemistry, has also said that the Student List does not support sanctions against Russia.
"As we stated in our programme, the Students' List does not advocate imposing sanctions against Russia," Saičić told RIA Novosti.
He pointed to Serbia's own experience of sanctions, arguing that such measures did not resolve problems. "Problems should be resolved through dialogue, negotiations and agreements, not sanctions," he said.
These positions suggest that the incoming administration, like the previous government, is unlikely to align fully with Brussels' policy towards Moscow.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has already made clear that a change of government in Belgrade will not remove Serbia's obligation to align with the EU's foreign and security policy. After speaking to Ilija Srdanović, the Student List's lead candidate, she stressed that progress towards membership would depend on the new government's actions, including its position on Russia.
"Serbia will not be able to make significant progress towards EU accession unless it aligns its foreign and security policy with Brussels, including its position on Russia and the sanctions imposed on Moscow over the war in Ukraine," Kos said.
Asked whether Serbia could join the EU without imposing sanctions on Russia, she warned that the process would be difficult for a country that did not share the bloc's strategic foreign-policy positions.
"It will probably not be possible for a country that does not align with us on strategic interests — namely foreign and security policy, or our joint opposition to Russia, particularly in the context of Russia's war in Ukraine — to make progress. It will be very, very difficult," she said.
The Student List's position contrasts with one of Vučić's central campaign warnings: that a victory for the student movement would lead to a dramatic shift in policy towards Moscow, including the imposition of sanctions. There is little in the movement's stated position to suggest that such a change is imminent.
Its programme also retains Serbia's military neutrality and rejects NATO membership. On Kosovo, it continues to oppose the territory's unilateral declaration of independence and its membership of international organisations.
There is little discernible difference between the Student List and the outgoing government on these questions. The change in leadership may ease tensions and reduce the use of confrontational rhetoric, but the underlying disputes are unlikely to disappear.
Saičić has expressed the movement's position on Kosovo in particularly strong terms.
"For us, Kosovo is a temporarily occupied territory. Russia has done more to defend Serbia's territorial integrity in Kosovo and Metohija than this regime has. Fake patriots accuse the students of lacking patriotism, but it was not the students who signed the Brussels and Washington Agreements, nor did they accept the Franco-German plan," he said.
The next government will therefore inherit a difficult diplomatic balancing act. The EU is Serbia's largest economic partner, while Russia remains important for its energy links and, above all, its position on Kosovo. Maintaining relations with Moscow while developing closer political and economic ties with the EU will require the government to reconcile interests that have frequently been presented as incompatible in Serbian politics.
The Student List describes itself as committed to European integration, but it is not a conventional pro-EU party. Its relationship with Brussels is likely to be shaped as much by its distrust of the EU's dealings with the outgoing administration as by its stated commitment to membership.
Srdanović has said Serbia will continue pursuing European integration, a process the country embarked on in 2000. He also promised that the new government would not repeat what he described as the previous administration's failure to maintain public support for membership.
"We will remain on the path of European integration. Serbia committed itself to the European integration process back in 2000, 26 years ago. That work will continue. The process will continue," he said.
"What we can certainly promise, however, is that we will not do what the previous government did: allow public support for European integration in Serbia to fall by 20 percentage points over a period of 15 years. That is the net outcome, the overall result of what the previous government did."
Srdanović said the government would bring domestic policies into line with EU accession Chapters 23 and 24, which cover the judiciary and fundamental rights, and justice, freedom and security. He identified the rule of law, equality, anti-corruption measures, functioning institutions and media freedom as priorities.
"These chapters are the main obstacle to further progress towards European integration," he said.
For many of the movement's supporters, however, Brussels has itself contributed to public disillusionment with the accession process. The EU maintained close relations with Vučić's administration for years despite mounting concerns about democratic standards, media freedom, electoral conditions and the concentration of political power.
European institutions have also taken differing approaches to Serbia. The European Parliament has repeatedly criticised the authorities, while the European Commission has adopted a more measured approach, alternating between pressure and engagement. The European Council, meanwhile, has effectively kept Serbia's accession process largely stalled since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with concerns over Belgrade's foreign policy adding to longstanding disputes.
For student protesters and their supporters, the EU's willingness to work with Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) was not simply pragmatic diplomacy. Many saw it as evidence that Brussels was prepared to tolerate democratic backsliding in the interest of regional stability.
The new government will therefore have to rebuild confidence at home while demonstrating to Brussels that its commitment to European integration extends beyond rhetoric. That will be complicated by the movement's opposition to sanctions against Russia and its continued insistence on Serbia's military neutrality.
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