Thousands rally in Serbia's north to demand early elections

Thousands protested in Serbia’s northern city of Novi Sad on Saturday to mark the 2024 deaths of 16 people after a railway station ​awning collapsed and demand snap general elections.

Student-led anti-government protests that turned ‌violent at times spread across Serbia following the disaster, rattling the 13-year rule of populist Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party.

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Protesters, opposition and rights groups allege the railway station ​disaster was a sign of broader government mismanagement of construction projects and ​corruption.

In Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, thousands of protesters stood in ⁠temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) chanting “Victory” and jeering Vucic and ​SNS. Many carried banners and wore t-shirts reading “Students are winning.”

Activists from the student-led ​movement say they want to challenge Vucic and SNS in upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Both are set for 2027, but Vucic has said he might call them early in the coming ​months.

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Serbia is a candidate to join the EU, but Belgrade is required to first improve its rule of law, including conditions for free and fair elections, the judiciary and ⁠root ​out corruption and organised crime. It also has ​to align its foreign policies with those of the bloc, including slapping sanctions on Russia over its ​invasion of Ukraine.

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