Serbian student list wants higher defence budget
The election winners say they want to allocate five per cent of GDP to defence, subject to available financial resources.
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The Serbian student list, which won last month’s parliamentary election, wants to raise the defence budget to five per cent of gross domestic product. List representative Luka Ponorac said this, according to Serbian public broadcaster RTS.
The statement was reported by local media on Saturday. According to Ponorac, the increase would raise the defence budget by about three percentage points from its current level. He added that the final implementation would depend on the financial and personnel situation the new government finds at the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces.
According to the Associated Press, the student list emerged from months of protests against the government of Aleksandar Vučić. The movement won the parliamentary election on 25 October and, according to the Associated Press, will hold the dominant position in the new parliament. The first sitting is scheduled for 17 November; a new government must then be formed within 90 days.
The election victory does not yet mean that the student movement fully controls the country’s administration. The current government and institutions will continue to function for the time being. The new majority must also decide which parties and independent candidates want to form a cabinet together.
A defence budget of five per cent would place Serbia in an exceptionally high spending category. The statement is therefore primarily a political objective, not an established budget decision. No detailed plan has yet been published on the division between personnel, equipment, infrastructure and international cooperation.
The course is relevant to the European Union because Serbia is a candidate country, while maintaining close ties with Russia. A greater defence effort could be presented as strengthening national security and Serbia’s European position. Critics, by contrast, may point to the costs for other government priorities and the risk of a militarising political agenda.
It remains to be seen whether the percentage will become part of a coalition agreement. The fact that a representative of the election winners mentioned the target does not in itself guarantee that it will be implemented.
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One story, several perspectives
What is established
- A representative of the Serbian student list has named five per cent of GDP for defence as a target.
- The student list won the parliamentary election and the new parliament will convene on 17 November.
- No budget decision or coalition agreement establishing this percentage has yet been adopted.
Left
Arguments The priority should be public services, social security and restoring trust in government; from this perspective, five per cent for defence could divert money from education, healthcare and infrastructure.
Values Social equality, public services and restraint in militarisation.
Consequences A rapid increase could reduce the budgetary room available to households and public institutions and heighten domestic tensions.
Centre
Arguments Higher defence spending can be justified if it follows from a transparent security analysis, but the percentage should be assessed against the available financial resources and clear parliamentary oversight.
Values Institutional reliability, affordability and national security.
Consequences A phased increase with public budget targets could strengthen security without pre-emptively determining other policy areas.
Right
Arguments From this perspective, Serbia should become more self-reliant and have sufficient military capacity to protect its sovereignty; five per cent could serve as a signal of determination.
Values National security, deterrence and state sovereignty.
Consequences Higher defence spending could strengthen the military position, but could also provoke tensions with neighbouring countries and criticism of the regional course.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The core claim about the proposed defence percentage appears in the freely available source used and is presented as a proposal. The broader political context, election victory and parliamentary timetable were confirmed by the Associated Press.
- confirmed A representative of the Serbian student list named five per cent of GDP as a target for defence. — Reported on the basis of a statement by Luka Ponorac to RTS. source
- confirmed The student list won the parliamentary election of 25 October 2026. — The Associated Press describes the election victory of the student-led movement. source
- confirmed The new parliament will convene on 17 November. — Mentioned by the outgoing parliamentary speaker, according to the AP. source
Editor's note
The five-per-cent target has been attributed to a representative of the student list and is not yet established policy. The election result and scheduled parliamentary sitting were independently confirmed by the AP.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- NOS — „servië studentenlijst”
- Het Parool — „servië studentenlijst”
- Trouw — „servië studentenlijst”