Thousands rally in Serbia's north to demand early elections

NOVI SAD, June 20 - Thousands protested in Serbia’s northern city of Novi Sad on Saturday to mark the 2024 deaths of 16 people after a railway station awning collapsed and demand snap general elections.

Student-led anti-government protests that turned violent at times spread across Serbia following the disaster, rattling the 13-year rule of populist Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party.

Protesters, opposition and rights groups allege the railway station disaster was a sign of broader government mismanagement of construction projects and corruption.

In Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, thousands of protesters stood in temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) chanting “Victory” and jeering Vucic and SNS. Many carried banners and wore t-shirts reading “Students are winning.”

Activists from the student-led movement say they want to challenge Vucic and SNS in upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Both are set for 2027, but Vucic has said he might call them early in the coming months.

“Without free and fair elections, everything else is empty words,” Sanja Belic, a university professor from Novi Sad, told the crowd.

Protesters and rights groups also accuse Vucic and government officials of rigging elections, violence against opponents, stifling media freedom, corruption and ties with organised crime. Vucic and his allies deny the allegations.

“We must stand up, express our will, and win; we have no other choice,” said Goran Sajin, a protester in his 50s.

In a live television broadcast that coincided with the Novi Sad rally, Vucic said his supporters would rally on June 27.

“I invite them (people) not to show anger towards anyone ... but to gather under the Serbian flag,” he said.

Serbia is a candidate to join the EU, but Belgrade is required to first improve its rule of law, including conditions for free and fair elections, the judiciary and root out corruption and organised crime. It also has to align its foreign policies with those of the bloc, including slapping sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. REUTERS