Elation across Serbia after veteran ruler Vučić concedes to student-led protest movement

The populist right-wing leader of 12 years says it is "clear" his party has lost the vote billed as a referendum on the country's future. Watch: Joy and disbelief on Serbian streets as Vučić concedes election defeat Serbia's long-standing leader Aleksandar Vučić has admitted defeat to the student-led protest movement in snap parliamentary elections. "We still do not have final results… it is clear that we have lost these elections," the right-wing populist leader said as he conceded late on Sunday. Preliminary figures from Serbia's election commission indicated a record high turnout, which commentators had suggested would favour the student movement. Celebrations erupted after Vučić conceded. Vučić called the snap elections after two years of protests triggered by the collapse of a train station canopy in the city of Novi Sad, which killed 16 and was seen as emblematic of corruption and negligence.

Vučić said early results made it "clear" that his party had lost Vučić had spent two terms as president and could not seek a third term, so was leading his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) with the aim of returning to the post of prime minister, which he left in 2017. The Student List's lead candidate Ilija Srdanović told BBC Serbian: "This will be a free state." He said the anti-corruption movement, which had attracted anti-government voters across