On Thursday evening, just three days before the national vote, a large wave of opposition supporters streamed through the streets of Belgrade and converged on Slavija Square, where an estimated 150,000 people gathered to call for the end of President Aleksandar Vučić’s 14‑year reign.
The rally was organized by the Students List, a coalition of university students who have been at the forefront of protests that began after a tragic collapse at a train station in Novi Sad in November 2024, which claimed 16 lives. The movement has since broadened its demands to include a general critique of corruption and the government’s handling of public affairs.
Vučić, who stepped down as president in September after nine years in office, is now running for the position of prime minister, a post he previously held before becoming president. His resignation cleared the way for the snap elections, a move that the student movement has long insisted on. The former president, once a hard‑line nationalist and a protégé of Slobodan Milošević, has since positioned himself as a reformer and an advocate for Serbia’s European Union accession, while maintaining close ties with Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine.
During a campaign address in a Belgrade sports hall, Vučić warned that the protest movement was backed by foreign financiers and urged his supporters to defend the state. Opponents of the administration point to allegations of intimidation, arrests and misuse of public funds during the campaign. The European Union has highlighted shortcomings in Serbia’s rule‑of‑law, human‑rights and market‑economy reforms, and has cited ongoing corruption and restrictions on free expression as reasons for the stalled accession talks.
Political analysts predict that the Students List could secure more than 40 % of the vote, a result that would represent the strongest showing for an opposition group since the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) first came to power in 2012. The outcome of the election will determine whether Serbia can move beyond Vučić’s influence and address the grievances that have fueled the country’s largest protest movement to date.
As the nation heads to the polls, the stakes remain high. The protests underscore a deepening divide between a government that has maintained power for over a decade and a growing segment of the population demanding democratic change and accountability.
