Serbia’s strongman leader Vucic concedes defeat to student-led movement in seismic political shift
Serbia's long-serving strongman leader, Aleksandar Vucic, conceded defeat on Sunday in an election that pitted him and his right-wing party against a diverse, student-led opposition movement that spent two years protesting his government. It was a seismic political shift in the Balkan country where Vucic, who had been endorsed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and who denounced the student movement as a foreign-led attempt to unseat him, led with virtually absolute power for 14 years. High turnout and rising tensions marked the highly contested parliamentary election, a showdown between Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party and university students who, accusing the government of corruption and dismantling democracy, had built a popular following nationwide. Serbia's 6.4 million voters were electing lawmakers to the 250-member Parliament. In conceding the election, Vucic…
