Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Serbian student movement gathered on Slavija Square in Belgrade for the final rally of the Student List - Students Win. The event took place three days before the early parliamentary elections on October 25, in which the student-backed list faces the ruling Serbian Progressive Party of Aleksandar Vucic.
The square and the streets around it were packed with people, and traffic in the central part of the Serbian capital was blocked. Supporters waved Serbian flags, carried the symbol with the number 3 - the number of the list on the ballot - and chanted slogans for victory and political change. According to the Associated Press, the crowd reached hundreds of thousands, while local media reported tens of thousands of participants.
Candidates presented their main messages
The candidates said that the choice was not simply between 18 lists, but between two different models for the country's future - – “Serbia or the mafia, freedom or slavery, prosperity or decline“. All speakers took to the stage with copies of the Constitution of Serbia in their hands.
The leader of the list, Ilija Srdanović, said that the parliamentary mandate was a high public responsibility and that those elected should know to whom they will be accountable.
“We know to whom we will be accountable! The mandate belongs to all of you - to the people! Serbia is winning because students are winning,“ said Srdanović.Among the main topics of the participants were the independence of the judiciary, equal access to education and healthcare, protection of labor, freedom of the media, economic development and nature protection. According to the messages presented, the state should provide medicines and medical care in every village, stop the opaque spending of public funds and guarantee equal opportunities for education and work.
Calls for independent institutions and support for farmers
Actor and activist Tihomir Stanić put the emphasis on the judiciary and the prosecutor's office.
„We advocate for a judiciary and prosecutor's office free from personal interests and political pressure. We are all tired of not being equal before the law. Serbia deserves freedom, justice and responsibility“, said Stanić.Veterinarian Aleksandar Vasov spoke about the crises in agriculture and the problems of rural areas. He called for a state policy that would protect food producers from the effects of droughts, floods and fires.
“We are all tired of our villages being forgotten and farmers and their demands being ignored. Serbia deserves to be able to feed itself“, said Vasov.At the end of the rally, the candidates left the stage with the Constitution in their hands, and the event ended with a folk dance. For the student movement, this was the first participation in parliamentary elections – through a list of professors, experts, public figures and other figures who were not part of traditional political life.
The vote is the culmination of nearly two years of protests
The student protests began after the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1, 2024, which killed 16 people. The demonstrations grew into the largest public movement against Vucic's rule in recent years, with participants demanding political accountability, transparency and independent institutions.
The upcoming vote is shaping up to be a contested one. The Associated Press reports that the student list and Vucic's party are close in preliminary estimates, increasing fears of tension after the results are announced. The elections on October 25 will show whether the protest movement can become a parliamentary force.
Sources: n1info.rs, apnews.com, n1info.ba