Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.Image: keystone
June 28, 2026, 9:52 p.mJune 28, 2026, 9:52 p.m
In the central Serbian city of Kraljevo, students and citizens demonstrated against the government of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Under the slogan “The students win!” Several thousand people gathered in the central “Serb Fighter Square,” as a reporter from the dpa news agency observed.
Since the collapse of the train station canopy in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad in November 2024, a massive wave of protests has shaken the Balkan country. The tragedy, which left 16 dead, is attributed to the corruption and incompetence of those in power.
The protests arose from spontaneous university occupations by students and faculty that lasted nearly a year. Meanwhile, citizens across the country joined her. The movement has been calling for an early election for about a year.
Rally dedicated to St. Vitus Day
The rally in Kraljevo, 160 kilometers south of Belgrade, on Sunday was marked by the so-called Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day). On June 28, 1389, a Turkish armada defeated a Serbian-led Christian army at Amselfeld (Kosovo polje, today located in the Republic of Kosovo). The battle marked one of the stages in the Ottoman advance into the medieval Balkans.
In Serbia, the event is seen as defining its own national identity. In Kraljevo, several Serbs from Kosovo spoke to the crowd. As they emphasized, the perceived incompetence and corruption of the government in Belgrade was making their already predicament worse.
The former Serbian province, now inhabited almost exclusively by Albanians, was occupied by NATO in 1999 after war crimes committed by the Serbian security forces and handed over to a UN interim administration. In 2008, the Albanian Republic of Kosovo declared itself independent. Serbia still does not recognize this step and demands the former province back.
Vucic announced his resignation on Saturday
Vucic announced his tactical resignation at a rally of his supporters on Saturday. His second term as president ends at the end of May next year. He cannot compete a third time. It is expected that he will call for early parliamentary elections before his departure in order to become prime minister as the leading candidate of the ruling SNS party. (sda/dpa)