site.btaSome 400,000 Sign Student-Led Petition in Serbia for Early Parliamentary Elections

Protesting students in Serbia said on Instagram that nearly 400,000 citizens had backed their demand for early parliamentary elections. On December 28, students organized a signature-collection campaign at more than 500 locations across over 100 municipalities throughout Serbia in support of early parliamentary elections.

"This campaign proved to us that even after more than a year of continuous struggle, the will and the strength have not weakened," the students wrote on Sunday.

The collected signatures will not be submitted to any institution as an official request for elections, according to the students' Instagram post. They said earlier the petition would allow them to connect with citizens and gauge support for early elections.

On the day of the campaign, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that elections would be held "soon, next year".

On May 5, students first demanded that President Vucic call snap parliamentary elections, but he refused to do so.

Over the past year, mass anti-government protests led by students have been held across the country, triggered by an incident in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, where on November 1, 2024, the concrete canopy of a recently renovated railway station collapsed, killing 16 people and seriously injuring one.