Celebrations in Banja Luka too, the largest city in Bosnia’s RS entity, with crowd chanting “Mile [Dodik], you are next!” Alas, a fractured opposition delivered Dodik’s SNSD another mandate even after 20+ years at the entity’s helm only weeks ago at the Bosnian elections.

The election results in Serbia are good news for the security and stability of the entire Western Balkans, as Vucic was the chief architect of virtually all major disputes in the region. That said, the Student List is a heterodox coalition. We should not expect a 180 degree transformation in Belgrade's positions on Kosovo, Bosnia, or Montenegro. The (ultra)nationalist right will remain a major factor in the country's politics. And presidential elections are scheduled for December. As such, a (significant) degree of wariness in regional capitals is also not without merit. Still, this is an opening, and politics - especially in the Balkans - is a game of inches. Decades of animosity aside, neighboring states should give the new government the opportunity to prove and constitute itself. Accept now that the official rhetoric will be over the map ideologically, especially at first. Real progress may need to be quiet, and unglamorous. The Serbian people have made a major decision. The entire region would benefit from a democratic, moderate Serbia. This may - or not - be its genesis. Let us at least give the citizens of Serbia a chance to finish what they have started tonight.

Vucic concedes defeat. The true scale of the Student List victory remains to be seen — but this a political earthquake for the Western Balkans. Sincere congratulations to the citizens of Serbia who held out hope against hope and mobilized in extraordinary numbers.