Serbia's Student Movement Wins Power, and Europe Takes Notice

A student movement that began in the streets of Serbia has won a parliamentary majority, bringing an end to 14 years of rule by the party of the increasingly authoritarian leader Aleksandar Vučić. In Sunday's vote, which saw the highest turnout since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, more than 50% of voters backed the students.

The movement took shape in Novi Sad, where students held near-daily protests after a deadly roof collapse at the city's main railway station. Their calls for accountability and justice spread across the country and were met with baton-wielding police, teargas and a political class that labelled the young protesters traitors. The Guardian described the result in an editorial as "one of the most remarkable election outcomes in recent European history".

The students first drew international attention in April of last year, when dozens of them cycled to Strasbourg, France, over 13 days to cover more than 1,300km (780 miles). In an open letter to French president Emmanuel Macron, they wrote: "We are not riding toward Europe to flee Serbia. We are riding to bring it back."

The movement won 140 of the 250 seats in parliament. Its candidates range from academics to athletes and were chosen through student assemblies before the election. Postdoctoral researcher Aleksandar Matković, who was involved in the movement, said discussions on preparing for politics sometimes lasted as long as six hours, and wrote that the world "may be witnessing the start of a very different kind of politics".

Celebrations drew tens of thousands of people onto streets across the country. "It's very strange that on the very streets where the police beat us, on the streets where we retreated countless times in the face of the gendarmerie, we are now standing here as the victors," a 24-year-old named Sara told the Guardian. Hours later, supporters returned to clean up after the night of festivities.

The task ahead is considerable, not least because the movement has no hierarchy or single leader. Over more than a decade, Vučić's party tightened its hold on the media, filled institutions with loyalists and used ministries and state bodies as political tools. One candidate said the top priority was "the social and psychological detoxification" of the country.

The movement's program is built on an 11-point plan that includes tackling corruption, reforming the judiciary and media, and improving access to healthcare. A member of the movement wrote that they are not expecting overnight miracles, but hope for "normal, functioning institutions".

The result may resonate well beyond Serbia. The country applied to join the European Union in 2009, but the process has largely stalled in recent years. The students' platform promises a referendum on future EU membership. As in neighbouring Hungary, the election has raised hopes of a democratic revival in central Europe.

European officials responded warmly. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU stands ready to support reforms on the rule of law, media freedom and the fight against corruption. Enlargement commissioner Marta Kos wrote that "a new chapter can begin for Serbia" and that "the door to the EU is open".

The outcome also comes as Europe has seen weeks of protests from Porto to Paris and Madrid to Milan. Analysts see a common thread in a belief that the social contract has broken down, leaving younger generations expecting to be worse off than their parents. For the Serbian students, who endured nearly two years of protests met with detentions on trumped-up evidence, illegal surveillance, threats and job losses, the vote offers a chance to bring Europe to Serbia.