Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its allies won in all 10 municipalities that held local elections on March 29, in a vote marked by high turnout, violence and allegations of irregularities.

“It’s 10 to zero. Thank you Serbia,” Vucic said late on March 29 from party headquarters in Belgrade, Tanjug news agency reported.

The elections involved fewer than 250,000 voters but were treated by authorities as a key political test ahead of national elections expected by 2027.

The vote followed a turbulent year for the SNS, which faced sustained anti-government protests in 2025 after corruption allegations linked to a deadly railway station incident in Novi Sad in late 2024.

Independent observers and opposition groups reported numerous irregularities and clashes during voting on Sunday, including physical attacks on journalists, activists and election monitors.

The monitoring group CRTA said it recorded a “very high” number of irregularities in several municipalities.

“The number of irregularities that we recorded in Aranđelovac is very high, that this cannot be called an election,” said Vukosava Crnjanski, CRTA’s director.

CRTA reported organised transport of voters, obstruction of observers and serious breaches of ballot secrecy. In some polling stations, multiple people were seen voting behind a single screen, while others reported parallel voter lists and ballot photographing.

In Bor and Bajina Bašta, several physical clashes were recorded. A student monitoring group said some of its members were threatened and, in one case, sprayed with pepper spray while attempting to document suspected abuses.

Police said four people were arrested over an alleged assault on an SNS member.

Both the ruling party and opposition groups accused each other of orchestrating violence and irregularities.

SNS officials, including Foreign Minister Marko Đurić, rejected allegations of misconduct and accused opposition activists of harassment and attempts to disrupt the vote.

In a statement, the party said opposition-linked groups had been “harassing, provoking and threatening citizens” and called on voters to remain calm.

A delegation from the Council of Europe monitored the elections, deploying teams to polling stations.

The vote took place in a highly polarised environment, with a fragmented opposition of student movements, civic groups and political parties running either jointly or separately against the ruling coalition, which campaigned under a unified list bearing Vucic’s name despite his not being a candidate.

The European Democratic Party criticised the conduct of the vote, citing reports of intimidation near polling stations.

“This is what Aleksandar Vučić’s democracy looks like – thugs at the ballot box,” the group said on X.

SNS officials rejected the criticism, accusing European lawmakers of interfering in Serbia’s internal affairs and spreading false narratives.

Preliminary data cited by local media showed the SNS lost support compared with the 2022 local elections in eight of the 10 municipalities, opposition newspaper Danas reported.