Serbia voted on 25 October 2026 in a snap parliamentary election, and the Student List won. Aleksandar Vučić, whose coalition came second, conceded on the night. In a short statement he said that "based on the stratified sample, it is clear that we have lost the election", as Euronews reported. The figures are preliminary. European Western Balkans, citing the monitoring group Crta, gives the Student List 51.47 percent and Vučić's coalition 40.42 percent. Vučić himself projected 135 to 140 of the 250 seats for the winners, which would be enough to govern alone. Final results from the electoral commission were still to come when this was written.
What this means for the law
Nothing has changed yet. Same-sex couples have no legal recognition in Serbia, and the country has no gender identity law, a point activists made again at the Belgrade Pride march on 5 September 2026, as European Western Balkans described it. Two draft laws, one on same-sex unions and one on gender identity, have never been tabled. Our Serbia country page records that Vučić had said he would not sign them while in office.
He is no longer in that office. He resigned as president on 27 September to run for prime minister, and the Speaker of Parliament, Ana Brnabić, has been acting head of state since 28 September. Brnabić is openly lesbian, and her government of 2017 to 2024 did not bring in partnership recognition. A presidential election is due within about 90 days. We found no announced position of the Student List on partnership or gender identity law, so a change in government is not a change in legislation. Any bill would still have to be written, tabled and passed.
Pride this year
Belgrade Pride marked 25 years since the first Pride event in Serbia. The march on 5 September walked from Manjež Park to the National Assembly and back under the motto "There is room for all of us", the same slogan used at the first march in 2001. It passed mostly peacefully. A small group of counter-protesters shouted near the Ascension Church, and police removed a clergyman near the Assembly. The marchers' demands included a law on same-sex communities, a law on gender identity and education on sexual orientation for young people.
If you are going to Belgrade
The scene is small and concentrated in the capital, and the election has not touched how it runs. Musk Machine is a gay club built into the Tašmajdan stadium, with its entrance on Aberdareva. Mornar is a sailor-themed queer bar at Ruzveltova 1 with drag sets, karaoke and film nights. Red Line is a men-only sauna in Palilula. For a bed, El Diablo Hostel has twenty beds in Dorćol, the old town.
The practical advice on our country page stands: outside Belgrade and Novi Sad there is little that is specifically LGBTQ+, and affection between men can draw attention. Parliament must convene and elect a government in the coming weeks, so the legal picture may start to move. We will update when it does.