Serbia’s student movement rallies before October 25 vote

Serbia’s student-backed opposition movement held its final major rally in Belgrade on October 22, three days before a parliamentary election that could end the Serbian Progressive Party’s more than 14 years in power. The vote is scheduled for October 25, and its outcome remains uncertain. Supporters gathered at Slavija Square, while President Aleksandar Vučić, who resigned in September to seek the prime minister’s post, held a separate event at a sports hall elsewhere in the city. Rally attendance estimates varied: organizers cited at least 200,000, while an independent crowd-monitoring estimate reported by News18 put the crowd at about 150,000. The figures are estimates, not a verified count. The Student List is fielding 250 candidates for the 250-seat parliament. Many are academics or people without previous political careers, and the movement has presented its campaign as a challenge to the ruling party and a push to combat corruption. The protests that produced the student movement began after a railway-station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing 16 people. Calls for accountability and transparency grew into demands for a snap election. A poll published...