Thousands of Serbian students took to the streets in Belgrade ahead of Sunday’s vote, in a final march against Aleksandar Vucic’s party

Thousands of students from across Serbia gathered in Belgrade on Wednesday evening to prepare for the final march before Sunday’s snap parliamentary election. The young people, who are backing their own electoral list, represent the strongest challenge to the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the party led by Aleksandar Vucic.

The election was called after nearly two years of student protests sparked by the collapse of the roof of the railway station in Novi Sad, a tragedy that claimed 16 lives in November 2024. The incident, widely attributed to corruption, triggered some of the largest demonstrations in Serbia since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

More than 1,000 students set off on foot from several cities toward the capital, where locals welcomed them with applause, honking and chants for victory. In Belgrade, several thousand people waved the electoral symbol of the list backed by the students, while smoke flares, fireworks and music created a festive atmosphere.