Around 150,000 join student-backed rally in Belgrade before Serbian election

Reports released on October 22 said roughly 150,000 people joined the Serbian opposition student movement’s closing campaign event in central Belgrade before the weekend’s parliamentary vote. The student-backed candidates are seeking to defeat Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party.¹²³⁴

From demonstrations to the ballot

Students and their supporters marched through the capital to Slavija Square. AFP reported that the gathering concluded with candidates entering the crowd carrying the Serbian constitution and joining supporters in a traditional folk dance.²

The Student List is a leaderless movement of student-backed candidates. According to the Guardian, it is fielding 250 candidates for the parliament’s 250 seats, with a commitment to fighting corruption at the centre of its platform. AFP reported that many candidates come from academia or have deliberately remained outside established politics.¹²⁴

The movement is trying to turn nearly two years of demonstrations into an electoral breakthrough, the Associated Press reported. Its protests began after a canopy collapsed at Novi Sad railway station in 2024, killing 16 people. The disaster was widely attributed to corruption.¹²³

Demands for a transparent investigation subsequently broadened into calls for an early election. The Guardian reported that Vucic announced the snap vote last month. The newspaper said his party has been in power for more than 14 years and that he has spent over a decade at the forefront of the country’s politics, serving as either prime minister or president.¹²

Warnings over election conditions

Civil society groups have said the conditions needed for a free and fair election are absent. They warned of intimidation, arrests and attacks during the campaign, alongside the misuse of public resources and an uneven media environment.¹²⁴

Vucic has accused the student movement of attempting a foreign-funded coup. Addressing his own supporters at a Belgrade sports hall, he urged them to vote against it, saying: “Let us go out and defeat them! Defeat them decisively!”¹²

Six detainees were interviewed by prosecutors in Belgrade over alleged preparations for election-day attacks, rioting and other violence. Those suspicions remain allegations. The student-led rallies have been largely peaceful since the demonstrations began.¹²

Predicting the result is difficult because dependable polling conducted independently is unavailable in Serbia, while existing surveys differ considerably. At the rally, a student identified as Igor described a different priority: “Today is the last rally, and it's important that we all come here to send a message of love and peace”.¹²