Serbia votes in election pitting longtime leader against student movement
Summary
Serbians are voting in snap parliamentary elections after nearly two years of student-led protests that began following a 2024 train station canopy collapse that killed 16 people. The student movement’s Student List is challenging Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party; polls show a close race, while Vucic’s party denies allegations of corruption and repression.Key Facts
- The snap election was called by Vucic in September.
- The canopy collapse in Novi Sad killed 16 people in 2024 and prompted student demonstrations.
- The Student List is campaigning on fighting corruption and improving schools.
- The Student List’s 250 candidates include professors, actors and farmers, and are led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic.
- An Ipsos poll published Thursday put the Serbian Progressive Party at 47 percent and the Student List at 40 percent; other polls have shown the students ahead.
- About 150,000 supporters of the student movement rallied in central Belgrade on Thursday.
- Vucic resigned as president in September to run for prime minister again.
- Vucic has denied accusations of repression, corruption and spying on opponents, and says the students receive foreign funding; the students deny that claim.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.
