Serbia: Tens of thousands rally ahead of elections

Over a hundred thousand of Serbians took to the streets in support of Serbia's protesting youth movement on Thursday, in what was the final campaign rally ahead of a pivotal election challenge to the Balkan nation's populist strongman, Aleksandar Vucic.

Crowds poured into Belgrade's central square from all directions and filled up several blocks around the area. Independent crowd-monitoring group Archive of Public Gatherings estimated about 150,000 people were at the rally.

The optimistic crowds chanted "victory" ahead of Sunday's crunch vote which comes after two years of student-led protests against Vucic. It was triggered by a 2024 collapse of a canopy at the newly renovated Novi Sad railway station which killed 16 people.

The anti-corruption movement, led by university students, has since snowballed from demands for an independent investigation into the incident, into calls for early elections.

What happened at the protest?

The Student List, a leaderless movement of student-backed candidates, is the veteran leader's biggest threat.

Thousands supporting it flocked to Belgrade's streets on Thursday.

"I came to support the Student List because young people finally gave me hope that it is possible to live in a normal country," 47-year-old Marija Nedeljkovic Radic told the French AFP news agency as she arrived for the students' rally.

"Really, for the first time in my life, I believe that it is possible," she said.

"We are putting an end to 14 years of humiliation, chaos and betrayal, and to decades of putting personal and party interests above yours," university professor Jugoslav Gasic, one of 250 candidates on the Student List, told the crowd who chanted "Victory, victory!"

"You deserve better, and we know how to deliver it. Students are winning!"

How has Vucic responded?

Vucic has dominated Serbian politics for over a decade now, either as prime minister or president of the Balkan country.

As pressure from the protests mounted, he announced a snap election last month. He has resigned as president, but many argue it is a tactical move so that he could run for prime minister.

This is now the biggest electoral challenge his party, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has faced since it was elected into power in 2012.

The leader, meanwhile, has regularly accused the students movement of being a foreign-funded coup.

"Let us never forget how they tried to bring down our state. Let us always protect and defend it," Vucic said to a sports hall full of supporters on Thursday. "Let us go out and defeat them! Defeat them decisively!"

Worries of post-result unrest

Days before the vote, Serbian civil societies warned that conditions for "free and fair election" were lacking.

"This assessment is not based on isolated incidents, opposition claims or political disagreement with the government," a joint statement by 24 organisations said, arguing it was supported by documented findings.

Analysts warn that a close election result could lead to post-election instability, if both sides declare victory. Vucic, who controls the Serbian police, has said he would quash any unrest after the vote.

While several minor parties are also in the race for premiership, observers say that there is a referendum-like atmosphere between Vucic and the students' movement which could sideline other parties in the 250-member parliament.