Around 150,000 people gathered in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, for the final campaign rally of a student-led movement challenging President Aleksandar Vucic’s political camp ahead of Sunday’s snap parliamentary election.
The independent crowd-monitoring group Archive of Public Gatherings estimated that about 150,000 people attended Thursday’s rally, filling the city’s central square and surrounding streets. Supporters chanted “Victory” as the movement prepared for what observers have described as a referendum-like contest on Vucic’s leadership.
The election challenge follows two years of student-led demonstrations that began after the collapse of a canopy at the newly renovated railway station in Novi Sad in 2024, killing 16 people. Initially demanding an independent investigation into the disaster, the protests expanded into a broader campaign against corruption and calls for early elections.
The student movement, known as the Student List, is backing 250 candidates in a bid to challenge the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has been in power since 2012. The movement has drawn support from citizens who say they want greater accountability and changes to the country’s political system.
University professor Jugoslav Gasic, one of the 250 candidates on the Student List, told the crowd that the movement wanted to end what he described as years of political failure and prioritisation of party interests.
“We are putting an end to 14 years of humiliation, chaos and betrayal, and to decades of putting personal and party interests above yours,” Gasic said.
“You deserve better, and we know how to deliver it. Students are winning!” he added, drawing chants of “Victory” from supporters.
Former Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, who has dominated the country’s politics for more than a decade, is seeking a return to government as prime minister after resigning from the presidency in September. He called a snap parliamentary election for October 25, setting the stage for one of the most significant electoral challenges faced by his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since it came to power in 2012.
Vučić has repeatedly accused the student movement of being part of a foreign-backed effort to overthrow the government. The movement, however, has maintained its anti-corruption campaign, demanding accountability, political change and justice following the deadly collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad in 2024.
