Mass student protests took place in Serbia demanding early elections

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On Sunday, June 1, throughout Serbia, thousands of people led by students protested against the government of the country's President Aleksandar Vucic. The demonstrators demanded that early parliamentary elections be called after months of protests.

The protests also commemorated the seven months since the tragedy in Novi Sad, which sparked the initial protests that later grew into full-fledged protests against the Serbian government.

Large-scale anti-government protests also took place on Friday, May 30.

On November 1, at a railway station in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, 15 people were killed and two more residents were injured as a result of the collapse of a previously repaired roof. Tens of thousands of Serbs took to the streets demanding that all those involved in the tragedy be brought to justice, that a plan for the reconstruction of the station be published, and that an independent investigation into corruption in public procurement be conducted.

Protesters blocked bridges, and in total various rallies took place in more than 30 cities and towns in Serbia. Initially, Vucic rejected the idea of ​​holding early elections, but after the protests he said that they could take place, without specifying the exact timing. If early elections are not called in Serbia, they will take place only in 2027, which does not suit the student movement and other protesters.

During protests in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, crowds stopped traffic on two key bridges over the Sava River for three hours. In Novi Sad, people carried a white wreath in memory of the victims of the canopy collapse as they walked to the crash site.

During the protests, Vučić accused demonstrators of working for unspecified “Western powers” ​​to “destroy Serbia.” At the same time, pro-government media described the blockade of bridges in Belgrade as “terror” and deliberately falsely reported that only a “handful” of people attended the rallies.