Tens of thousands rally for Serbia's student opposition ahead of election

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 23 Oct, 03:20 · Archive

Tens of thousands of supporters of Serbia's opposition Student List movement rallied in central Belgrade on Thursday ahead of Sunday's parliamentary election. The Student List, a leaderless movement of student-backed candidates, seeks to end more than 14 years of rule by Aleksandar Vucic's right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party. Opinion polls suggest the race between the two is close. Ten candidates addressed the large crowd at Slavija Square, with actor Tihomir Stanic telling the rally: 'We are tired of not everyone being equal before the law.' Other speakers described the election as a choice 'between Serbia and the mafia, between freedom and slavery, between prosperity and decline.'

The Student List emerged from mass protests that followed the collapse of a railway station canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad in November 2024, which killed 16 people. Critics blamed corruption and negligence under Vucic's government for the disaster. Opponents of Vucic's government accuse it of allowing corruption to become entrenched, bringing much of the judiciary under political control, using ruling party supporters to intimidate political opponents and restricting media freedom. Vucic resigned as president in September in what was described as a tactical move to pave the way for him to become prime minister. Serbia has made little progress towards its goal of joining the European Union under his government.

How it is being reported

• Tens of thousands rally ahead of Serbian electionTens of thousands of supporters of Serbia 's protesting youth movement have staged a rally ahead of a tense weekend parliamentary election.Perth Now · 23 Oct, 02:48
• Tens of thousands rally ahead of Serbian electionTens of thousands of supporters of Serbia 's protesting youth movement have staged a rally ahead of a tense weekend parliamentary election.The West Australian · 23 Oct, 02:48

In this story: Aleksandar Vucic · Student List · Serbian Progressive Party · Belgrade · Serbia · Novi Sad

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem