Some 100,000 Serbs took to the streets of Belgrade on Thursday in support of the protest movement led by Serbia’s young people, at what was the final campaign rally ahead of a decisive election challenge to the populist Balkan leader, Aleksandar Vucic. Crowds poured into the central square in Belgrade from all directions, filling several blocks around the area. The independent crowd-monitoring group “Public Gatherings Archive” estimated that around 150,000 people attended the rally.
Optimistic crowds chanted “victory” ahead of Sunday’s important vote, which comes after two years of protests led by students against Vucic. These protests were triggered by the collapse of a canopy at the recently renovated railway station in Novi Sad in 2024, an incident that killed 16 people. The anti-corruption movement, led by university students, has since expanded from demands for an independent investigation into the incident to calls for early elections.
“Student List”, a leaderless movement of candidates backed by students, is seen as the biggest threat to the veteran leader. Thousands of its supporters gathered on the streets of Belgrade on Thursday. “I came to support the Student List because the young people have finally given me hope that it is possible to live in a normal country,” said 47-year-old Marija Nedeljkovic Radic to the French news agency AFP, as she arrived at the students’ rally. “Truly, for the first time in my life, I believe it is possible,” she added. University professor Jugoslav Gasic, one of 250 candidates on the Student List, addressed the crowd, which chanted “Victory, victory!”, saying: “We are putting an end to 14 years of humiliation, chaos and betrayal, and decades of placing personal and party interests above yours. You deserve better, and we know how to deliver it. The students are winning!”
Vucic has dominated Serbian politics for more than a decade, both as prime minister and as president of the Balkan country. As pressure from the protests grew, he announced early elections last month. He has resigned as president, but many argue that this is a tactical move so that he can run for prime minister. This is now the biggest electoral challenge his party, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has faced since it came to power in 2012.
Meanwhile, the leader has regularly accused the student movement of being a foreign-funded coup attempt. “Let us never forget how they tried to topple our state. Let us always defend and protect it,” Vucic said at a sports hall full of supporters on Thursday. “Let us go out and defeat them! Defeat them with determination!”
On the eve of the vote, Serbian civil society groups warned that the conditions for “free and fair elections” were lacking. “This assessment is not based on isolated incidents, opposition claims or political disagreements with the government,” said a joint statement from 24 organisations, arguing that it was supported by documented findings. Analysts warn that a narrow election result could lead to instability after the vote if both sides declare victory. Vucic, who controls the Serbian police, has said he would crush any unrest after the vote.
While several smaller parties are also competing for the post of prime minister, observers say the contest has the character of a referendum between Vucic and the student movement, which could overshadow other parties in the 250-seat parliament.
Taken from Deutsche Welle