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College college students have proposed banning corrupt officers from politics and investigating their wealth.
Printed On 18 Jan 2026
1000’s of individuals have rallied within the Serbian metropolis of Novi Unhappy, as college college students who’ve led greater than a yr of mass demonstrations pledged to proceed preventing in opposition to endemic corruption throughout the tenure of right-wing nationalist President Aleksandar Vucic.
Protesters, chanting “thieves”, accused the federal government of rampant corruption. College college students advised the group on Saturday that they’d drawn up a plan on tips on how to rid Serbia of corruption and restore the rule of legislation. They proposed banning corrupt officers from politics and investigating their wealth as first steps for a post-Vucic authorities.
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The protest was dubbed “What victory will imply”. Final month, college students stated they’d collected about 400,000 signatures in help of their election bid.
The subsequent protest rally is deliberate for January 27 within the Serbian capital of Belgrade, organisers stated.
Common student-led protests have gripped Serbia since a November 2024 prepare station catastrophe within the northern metropolis killed 16 folks, turning into a logo of entrenched corruption.
13 folks, together with former Building Minister Goran Vesic, had been charged in a legal case over the collapse. The Novi Unhappy Excessive Court docket dropped the costs in opposition to Vesic final month, citing an absence of proof.
A separate anticorruption inquiry continues alongside a European Union-backed investigation into the attainable misuse of EU funds within the undertaking.
Tens of 1000’s of individuals marked the primary anniversary of the prepare station roof collapse in Novi Unhappy in November, observing 16 minutes of silence for the 16 victims of the tragedy.
The protests over the station’s collapse have led to the resignation of the prime minister, the autumn of his authorities and the formation of a brand new one. However Vucic has remained defiantly in workplace.
Vucic has denied accusations of corruption and recurrently labelled demonstrators as foreign-funded coup plotters, whereas members of his SNS social gathering pushed conspiracy theories, claiming that the prepare station roof collapse might have been an orchestrated assault.
Vucic has refused to schedule a direct early election that college students have demanded. A whole lot of individuals have been detained, or reported shedding their jobs or going through strain for opposing the federal government.
Vucic got here to energy greater than a decade in the past, promising to take Serbia into the EU. However he has since strengthened ties with Russia and China, whereas going through accusations of curbing democratic freedoms in Serbia and permitting corruption and organised crime to flourish.
The scholar motion has garnered large help amongst Serbs who’re largely disillusioned with mainstream politicians. Vucic has accused the scholars of working underneath unspecified Western orders to “destroy Serbia”.
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