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Serbian students are calling for the resignation of the heads of the public broadcaster after their victory in Sunday’s parliamentary election

Raluca Ioana Draghici

28 October 2026, 10:05

International

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Serbia’s student movement, which won Sunday’s parliamentary election, called on Tuesday for the resignation of the public broadcaster’s leadership, accusing Serbian Radio-Television (RTS) of bias and of reporting favorably on the nationalist party led by Aleksandar Vučić.

The students called for the departure of the RTS director general, his deputy and the editors-in-chief responsible for news. They criticized the broadcast of insulting remarks directed at protesters without critical analysis and accused the broadcaster of repeatedly ignoring their actions.

With nearly all votes counted, the student-backed list won 52.8% of the vote, allowing it to form a government on its own. The final results are due to be announced after the three-day period for possible challenges, after which Parliament and the government will be formed.

The electoral victory came after two years of protests sparked by the collapse, in 2024, of the canopy at a railway station, a tragedy that killed 16 people and was attributed to corruption. On election night, RTS stopped reporting on demonstrations in Belgrade after Vučić conceded defeat.

The head of another public broadcaster, in Vojvodina, has already resigned, while a presenter apologized on air. NGOs are also calling for the withdrawal of the license of the pro-Vučić private broadcaster Informer TV, which has been accused of attacking the opposition.

Context: before the victory of the “Students’ List,” protests intensified and the list for the snap elections was submitted

A few days before the vote, the student movement organized a rally in Belgrade attended by approximately 150,000 people, calling for a Serbia “free of corruption” and “free of mafia influence.” Three days before the vote, the students also presented a political agenda focused on freedom, justice, and equality before the law, amid a race considered close with the coalition associated with Aleksandar Vučić.

Earlier, the students leading the protests submitted to the Belgrade Electoral Commission a list of 250 candidates for the snap legislative elections scheduled for 25 October, after two days of gathering signatures throughout the country. In parallel, Aleksandar Vučić had announced that he would resign as president on 27 September to lead the party’s campaign, while the students accused him of trying to portray the protests as a “foreign-funded revolution.”