Student Movement Demands Calling of Elections During Major Protest Rally in Belgrade

Slavija, Belgrade, May 23 2026 (BETAPHOTO /MILAN OBRADOVIC)

At a major protest rally at Belgrade's Slavija square late on May 23, representatives of the protesting students demanded that the authorities call an election, after which the student movement could fulfill its promise of "an honest government, freedom and life with dignity."

The rally, which attracted tens of thousands who filled almost every streets in the heart of Belgrade's downtown area, concluded around 8 p.m. without incident, after speakers presented parts of the student platform addressing justice, health care, education, agriculture, culture and other areas.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic has said that the police arrested 23 participants in riots that erupted in Belgrade after the student-led rally. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the student protest movement did not present its platform at the protest at Slavija, but "just showed their violent nature."

The student protest movement has not directly accused the government of orchestrating the violence that erupted after the peaceful rally in downtown Belgrade, but did recall in a statement that, throughout the day, a strong police presence guarded members of the ruling regime and the criminals assembled in an encampment in Pionirski Park, across the street from the Serbian parliament.