In a Serbia still shaken by the collapse of a railway canopy in Novi Sad, which killed sixteen people and gave rise to a movement of students who refuse to look away, voters have gone to the polls to decide whether a long-serving leader who has shaped the country for more than a decade will keep his hold on it. The contest is less a simple choice between parties than a question of what a nation asks of its public life after a tragedy it believes was preventable. Whether the verdict favours the incumbent or the young challengers, it will be read as part of a wider reckoning in Europe over power
Serbia Votes in Election Pitting Longtime Leader Vucic Against Student Anti-Corruption Movement
Sixteen people died in 2024 when a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad, sparking protests; rights groups say repression has since worsened.
A canopy collapsed, sixteen people died, and a movement was born
Mark
Why does this election feel bigger than a normal parliamentary vote?
Mimi
Because it grew out of a disaster. Sixteen people died when the Novi Sad station canopy collapsed in 2024, and the anger over blame for that turned into almost two years of student protest.
Mark
And Vucic is still the favourite to some extent?
Mimi
He's a strong incumbent. Many voters credit him with modernising the economy, and he's promising higher pensions, public salaries and healthcare investment.
Luke
But the polls disagree. Ipsos has his party at 47 percent to the students' 40, while other polls put the students ahead. That's a genuinely open race, not a safe call either way.
Mark
What about the repression claims?
Mimi
Rights groups and activists say it has worsened since the collapse. Vucic and his party deny repression, corruption and spying on opponents.
Luke
Worth keeping straight: those are allegations and denials. The reporting here doesn't independently confirm either side. The same goes for his claim that the students are foreign-funded, which they deny.
Mark
What do the students actually stand for?
Mimi
Fighting corruption and improving schooling. They've said little about foreign policy, and their 250 candidates are mostly unknown, led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic.
Luke
That's a gap. We don't yet know how they'd handle China, Russia or the EU, and the Hungary comparison is an analogy, not a forecast.
O Pulso
- Vucic, who has governed for over a decade, is facing the toughest challenge of his career from a student movement that grew out of the 2024 station collapse.
- Polls split sharply, with one showing Vucic's party ahead 47 to 40 while others put the students in front, leaving the result genuinely open.
- About 150,000 supporters filled central Belgrade in a rally that turned the vote into a street-level test of public anger and loyalty.
- Accusations of repression, corruption and foreign funding are flying back and forth, and rights groups say the climate has grown harder since the collapse.
- A win for the students would echo Hungary's April defeat of Viktor Orban and force a new government to face EU demands on the judiciary and corruption.
In a Serbia still shaken by the collapse of a railway canopy in Novi Sad, which killed sixteen people and gave rise to a movement of students who refuse to look away, voters have gone to the polls to decide whether a long-serving leader who has shaped the country for more than a decade will keep his hold on it. The contest is less a simple choice between parties than a question of what a nation asks of its public life after a tragedy it believes was preventable. Whether the verdict favours the incumbent or the young challengers, it will be read as part of a wider reckoning in Europe over power, accountability and the promises of reform.
Serbians have gone to the polls in snap parliamentary elections that have become a referendum on Aleksandar Vucic, who has held power for more than a decade, first as prime minister and then as president. Facing him is a student-led movement that has spent almost two years in the streets, demanding an end to corruption and what it sees as a slide toward authoritarian rule.
The movement began in 2024, when a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station collapsed and killed sixteen people. Many blamed government corruption for the disaster, and students took to the streets. Their cause has since won wide support, and on Thursday around 150,000 supporters rallied in central Belgrade.
Vucic called the vote in September and resigned the presidency that month so he could run for prime minister. Many voters still credit him with lifting Serbia, a country of about six million, out of obscurity and guiding a period of modernisation. His promises include higher pensions and salaries, better healthcare and subsidies for young couples. He has balanced ties with China and Russia, while keeping the door to the European Union open, though relations with Brussels have soured over reforms.
The students run as the Student List, fielding 250 mostly unknown candidates, among them professors, actors and farmers, led by the cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic. Their focus is rooting out corruption and improving schools. The polls remain divided: an Ipsos survey gives Vucic's party 47 percent to the students' 40, while others show the students ahead. Whatever the outcome, it will be a watershed, and it will shape how Serbia answers the EU's demands on the rule of law.
Serbians went to the polls in snap parliamentary elections that have become a referendum on one man: Aleksandar Vucic, who has held power for more than a decade, first as prime minister and then as president. Facing him is a student-led movement that has spent almost two years in the streets demanding an end to what it sees as corruption and creeping authoritarianism.
The movement traces back to 2024, when a canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad collapsed and killed 16 people. The disaster was widely blamed on government corruption, and it set off the student demonstrations. The students have since won broad support. On Thursday, about 150,000 of their supporters rallied in central Belgrade.
Vucic called the vote in September. He also resigned the presidency that month so he could run again for prime minister. He remains a strong incumbent, and many voters credit him with pulling Serbia, a country of some 6 million people, out of economic obscurity and overseeing a period of sustained modernisation.
His campaign promises are concrete: higher pensions and public sector salaries, investment in state healthcare, and subsidies for young couples. On foreign policy he has balanced closer ties with China, a major investor, and with Russia, Serbia's traditional ally and its principal supplier of natural gas. He has also left open the possibility of joining the European Union, though relations with Brussels have frayed. The bloc has grown frustrated by the lack of reforms on the judiciary, the rule of law and corruption.
The students are running as the Student List, with 250 candidates, most of them unfamiliar to the public. They include university professors, actors and farmers, and the list is led by a cardiologist, Ilija Srdanovic. Their agenda centres on rooting out corruption and improving schooling, and they have said little about Serbia's international ambitions.
The polls point to a close contest, and they disagree. An Ipsos survey published Thursday put Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party at 47 percent and the students at 40 percent. Other polls have placed the students ahead. Mario Bikarski, senior Europe analyst at the risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, told Reuters the election is shaping up as a watershed moment, with the Student List mounting the biggest challenge to Vucic so far.
Rights groups and activists say repression has worsened since the canopy collapse. Vucic and his party have repeatedly denied accusations of repression, corruption and spying on opponents. He has also claimed the students are funded by foreign agents in Croatia and Montenegro, which the students deny.
A defeat for Vucic would be a profound political shift in Serbia, and would recall the loss of Hungary's Viktor Orban in April. What to watch next is the result itself, given the split in the polls, and how any new government handles the EU's demands on corruption and the rule of law.
Citações Notáveis
The Serbian election is shaping up to be a watershed moment for the country as the Student List mounts the biggest challenge against Vucic yet.— Mario Bikarski, senior Europe analyst, Verisk Maplecroft, to Reuters
Quer a matéria completa?
Leia o original em Al Jazeera ↗
Politics & Governance