Young voters are expected to become a key battleground in Serbia’s next elections, with President Aleksandar Vučić claiming that support for the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) among young people has increased sharply, while sociologists argue that the party is continuing to lose support among younger generations.
Sociologist and University of Belgrade professor Slobodan Cvejić told Danas that he believes support for the SNS among young people is declining and would have continued to fall even without the student protests.
“Absolutely no one from the new generation would vote for them. Their support is declining from one generation to the next, and it would have declined regardless of the student movement,” Cvejić said, describing the trend as a broader generational phenomenon linked to the political socialization of young people.
Vučić recently told Pink TV that the number of young people supporting the SNS had risen dramatically over the past year, from 18 percent to 31 percent.
Cvejić rejected that figure as implausible, arguing that Vučić’s support among younger voters was likely significantly lower than his overall level of support.
“He probably has around 30 percent support overall. Among young people, it is not that high. Given that around 70 percent of pensioners vote for him, he could have between 10 and 15 percent among young people — that is the ceiling,” Cvejić said.
Sociologist and retired Faculty of Political Sciences professor Čedomir Čupić also questioned the claim that support for the SNS among young voters could have risen so significantly in just one year.
“Vučić has not managed to attract students, and they are in fact among the strongest representatives of their generation,” Čupić said.
He suggested that some young people who are employed, particularly those working on temporary contracts, could express support for the ruling party because of pressure related to job security.
“Maybe some young people who are employed, because of the pressure they face regarding job security, declare their support for him. But I do not think that support is genuine,” Čupić said.
At the same time, Čupić cautioned that the exact level of support for the SNS among young people cannot be established without more comprehensive polling.
He argued that survey results can sometimes be misleading and that actual electoral behavior will provide a clearer picture of political preferences among younger generations.
A detailed study, he said, would need to distinguish between employed and unemployed young people, as well as those living in urban and rural areas.
Nevertheless, Čupić said he was confident that Vučić does not enjoy significant support among university students and high-school students.
The debate over young voters comes as Serbia faces growing political tensions and continued student activism, making the preferences of younger generations potentially decisive in the country’s next electoral contest.
