Serbia ‘s student movement on Thursday (October 29, 2026) demanded the resignations of top officials in the police, intelligence agencies, and the judiciary as they prepare to take power after a historic election win last weekend against former strongman leader Aleksandar Vucic.
The outgoing authorities remain in control as the formal transition of power will take several weeks. Vucic’s loyalists. “Institutions belong to the citizens and the law applies to everyone. Mr. The SNS party has been accused of rampant corruption and cronyism, links to organised crime, and pressure on the judiciary, police, and the media, which the populists have denied. Mr. The students led those protests before challenging and defeating Mr. It comes at the moment when similar movements are mushrooming across Europe. Vucic’s party during the protests in violation of the law. They have been accused of using excessive force against protesters, illegal surveillance, detention and pressure on Mr. Vucic’s political opponents. Vucic. They promised that all contracts and public spending deals will be reviewed. “We are not asking for political service but for the adherence to the laws, professionalism and responsibility. There was no immediate response from the police commanders, judges and prosecutors who the students asked to step down. Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership but the bid has stalled under Mr. EU officials have offered help to the new authorities in boosting Serbia’s democracy and the rule of law.
The Students’ List movement swept the parliamentary election on Sunday (October 25, 2026) against Mr. Vucic’s right-wing Serbian Progressive Party, which has ruled unchallenged for 14 years. Vucic’s party has gradually taken control over all State institutions since it came to power in 2012. The students on Thursday (October 29, 2026) asked public servants to prevent outgoing officials from destroying documentation or evidence of potential wrongdoing. Suspicions of State corruption in infrastructure projects two years ago set off a wave of street protests after a collapsed canopy at a train station in Serbia’s north killed 16 people after a renovation. Vucic at the early ballot on Sunday (October 25, 2026). The students’ win on Sunday (October 25, 2026) marks the first time that a grassroot youth movement toppled a well-established political leader. The general manager of the state Serbian RTS television, Manja Grcic, has resigned while the public broadcaster’s branch in Novi Sad, the site of the November 2024 train station tragedy, has apologised to the viewers for selective and non-professional reporting.
The students at a news conference also urged Serbia’s election authorities to officially declare the final results of Sunday’s (October 25, 2026) ballot without delay after a rerun at some 50 polling stations next Sunday (November 1, 2026), so that a new Parliament and government can be formed. The students also demanded changes in the judiciary and urgent investigations in top-level corruption cases that might have been sidelined due to political pressure under Mr. Vucic due to democratic backsliding and close ties to Russia.
“Changes are starting now,” student Filip Ubovic said at the news conference held at a central Belgrade park that used to be a sealed-off area occupied by Mr. Vucic on Thursday (October 29, 2026) held a news conference of his own, accusing the election winners of “revolutionary terror” after groups of people stormed the Informer TV station that led the pre-election propaganda branding the students as traitors and enemies of the State. The students said in their briefing that top police officials and the intelligence agencies had served Mr. “The Students’ List is not here to take revenge,” Mr. Ubovic said.
