{
  "id": 16140601,
  "title": "Around 150,000 rally in Belgrade as Serbia heads to pivotal poll",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/23/around-150-000-rally-in-belgrade-as-serbia-heads-to-pivotal-poll-16140601",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-23T00:27:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2026/10/23/around-150-000-rally-in-belgrade-as-serbia-heads-to-pivotal-poll"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Around 150,000 supporters of Serbia's opposition student movement rallied in central Belgrade on Thursday, seeking to unseat the party of veteran leader Aleksandar Vucic in upcoming parliamentary elections. The Student List, a leaderless movement of student-backed candidates, aims to end more than a decade of rule by Vucic's right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). This represents the biggest challenge Vucic has faced, with civil society groups warning the campaign has been marred by intimidation, arrests, and a distorted media environment.\n\n47-year-old Marija Nedeljkovic Radic, who arrived at the rally, expressed hope that young people are finally believing a normal country is possible. Around 150,000 people gathered at the rally, according to the Archive of Public Gatherings.\n\nThe elections follow nearly two years of student-led protests triggered by a 2024 tragedy at the newly renovated Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people and was widely blamed on corruption. The anti-corruption movement, initially focused on a transparent investigation, evolved into calls for an early election. Around 250 candidates, many drawn from academia or serving as political outsiders, are running for the 250-seat parliament, all pledging to fight corruption.\n\nVucic, who has dominated Serbian politics for over a decade, announced the snap vote last month, expecting to face his biggest electoral challenge since his party took power in 2012. He regularly accused the student movement of being a foreign-funded coup attempt. Days before the vote, Serbian civil society groups expressed concerns that conditions for free and fair elections were lacking, supported by documented findings from independent Serbian organizations.",
  "summary": "Supporters are seeking to end more than 14 years of rule by president Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party in Sunday's parliamentary elections.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}