Two years ago, Serbian students were marching through the streets demanding accountability. They were met with police barricades, arrests and accusations of trying to destabilise the country.

On October 25, 2026, those same streets filled with people celebrating their victory.

Serbia’s student-led movement has defeated Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), ending 14 years of political dominance.

And perhaps the most extraordinary part? Not a single student stood for election.

It Started With 16 Deaths

On November 1, 2024, a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway station in Novi Sad, killing 16 people.

The tragedy triggered widespread anger over suspected corruption, government negligence and accountability for the station’s renovation.

Students began organising protests, initially demanding justice for the victims.

But the demonstrations quickly grew into something bigger.

Teachers, farmers, artists and ordinary citizens joined the movement, turning local protests into a nationwide challenge to Vučić’s government.

For nearly two years, demonstrators faced police crackdowns, political pressure and accusations of serving foreign interests.

Instead of disappearing, the movement became stronger.

A Political Victory Nobody Expected

In Sunday’s parliamentary election, the Students’ List secured a projected 52.9% of the vote, according to independent pollsters CeSID.

Preliminary projections suggested the movement could win approximately 140 seats in Serbia’s 250-member parliament.

Vučić conceded defeat, acknowledging that his party had lost.

Celebrations erupted across Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš.

People danced in the streets, waved Serbian flags and embraced one another.

For many protesters, the celebrations carried particular meaning.

The same streets where police had confronted demonstrators were now filled with people celebrating a political victory.

The Students Won Without Becoming Politicians

Rather than contesting seats themselves, the students selected candidates from different professions.

Doctors, professors, actors, economists and former athletes represented their movement.

Their demands included fighting corruption, reforming state institutions, reducing political influence over public media and holding officials accountable for abuses.

The strategy allowed students to transform a protest movement into an electoral challenge without relying on a traditional political party.

Winning Was the First Challenge

The victory represents a remarkable moment for Serbia’s younger generation, but removing a government is different from reforming the institutions it controlled.

The incoming representatives must now deliver on promises of transparency, accountability and democratic reform.

They will also face difficult decisions over Serbia’s economy, European Union ambitions and international relationships.

Serbia’s students have demonstrated that young people do not necessarily need political titles to change their country’s direction.

They began by demanding answers for 16 lives lost in Novi Sad.

Two years later, their movement has changed Serbia’s political future.

They didn’t enter politics to become politicians. They entered it because they wanted their country back.