BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Protesting university students in Serbia were gathering signatures across the country on Sunday to demand early parliamentary elections that they hope will oust the authoritarian government of President Aleksandar Vucic.
Students braved the cold weather to set up nearly 500 booths in dozens of towns and villages across the Balkan country for residents to sign the electoral demand, which was not a formal petition. Students said Sunday’s action was an attempt to put further pressure on Vucic and to test his support.
Young protesters in Serbia have been at the forefront of a national movement against Vucic’s populist rule. More than a year of street protests first began in November 2024 after a train station disaster that killed 16 people.
The collapse of a concrete canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad has been widely blamed on rampant corruption and a disregard for building and safety rules during station renovation works. No one is held responsible for this tragedy.
Vucic declined to schedule early voting immediately but said it could happen sometime next year. Parliamentary and presidential elections are both scheduled for 2027.
“Our stands are designed to create a connection with citizens,” said Igor Dojnov, a student in charge of a stand in the center of Belgrade.
Last year’s youth-led protests rocked Vucic’s 13-year tenure more than ever before. Serbia’s populist prime minister resigned in January, and Vucic subsequently launched a crackdown on protesters that also drew international criticism.
While street protests have subsided, dissatisfaction with Vucic’s government is believed to be widespread.
Belgrade resident Milca Cankovic Kadijevic said she supports the students because “I long for a decent life – for me, my children and my grandchildren.”
Vucic has formally pledged to allow Serbia to join the European Union, but he has maintained close ties with Russia and China while facing accusations of suppressing democratic freedoms, condoning corruption and rampant organized crime.
He denied this and accused protesters of trying to engineer a “color revolution” without explicit orders from the West. The term “color revolution” has been used to describe a series of massive protests in the early 21st century that sometimes led to the collapse of governments in former Soviet countries, the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Asia.
