Photos: Serbia celebrates as ruling party loses grip on power
By AFP and AP. Published On 26 Oct 202626 Oct 2026.
By AFP and AP. Published On 26 Oct 202626 Oct 2026.
Article outline
- What happened
- Official response
- The bottom line
Key points
- Sunday's elections capped almost two years of student-led demonstrations triggered by the 2024 collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station.
- At the Student List headquarters, supporters hugged, cried and chanted, Victory, victory! Candidate Radomir Saicic, a university professor, declared: Serbia has won as we promised.
- Celebrations have erupted throughout Serbia after a student-backed movement ousted President Aleksandar Vucic's ruling party in snap parliamentary elections, ending his long grip on power.
- Elsewhere, pro-government encampments near parliament were dismantled as riot police trucks withdrew to the sound of cheering crowds.
In Belgrade late on Sunday, drivers in cars draped in Serbian flags honked their horns through the streets as fireworks lit up the sky and crowds flooded central squares and the area around parliament. "I feel as though I am finally living in a free country, " student Mila Martic remarked to journalists as residents raised three fingers, the Student List ballot symbol and a traditional Serbian greeting.
Sunday's elections capped almost two years of student-led demonstrations triggered by the 2024 collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station. It killed 16 residents, a disaster widely blamed on corruption and cronyism. The movement grew into some of Serbia's largest protests since the 2000 overthrow of strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
At the Student List headquarters, supporters hugged, cried and chanted, "Victory, victory!" Candidate Radomir Saicic, a university professor, declared: "Serbia has won as we promised. Never again a tyrant in this country, " while he urged peaceful, dignified celebrations and "serious, responsible hard work" from Monday.
Taken together, the developments around photos: Serbia celebrates as ruling party loses grip on power point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.
