Thousands celebrate Student List victory at Slavija in Belgrade; some dance oro in front of RTS

Thousands of people gathered at Slavija Square in Belgrade on the evening of October 26, 2026, to celebrate the decisive parliamentary victory of the Student List, with protests turning into street celebrations that included music, torches and fireworks.

Organizers set up a large stage at the square where a DJ played music and crowds sang and danced around the roundabout and fountain; traffic in the city centre was halted early in the evening. A group of participants also danced a traditional oro in front of the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) building, where the atmosphere remained peaceful, according to video shared on social media. Photo: EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC

From protest squares to election victory celebrations

The students had invited supporters online with the rallying cry, "Let this Slavija sing, let it dance oro!" People began arriving on Slavija from about 18:00, and the main gathering formally opened around 19:00. Journalists and observers described several thousand attendees clustered around the fountain and the circular traffic junction; traffic was reported stopped at about 18:30.

Celebrations were not limited to Belgrade: Student List supporters held parallel gatherings in Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac and other Serbian cities.

While crowds celebrated, a group of demonstrators entered the tabloid Informer and demanded that its owner and editor Dragan Vučićević apologise for the paper's role during Aleksandar Vučić's rule. Another group hurled eggs at the pro-government Pink television. The Student List issued a statement on social networks calling on people not to support or commit violence against media or institutions.

Preliminary results from the Republic Electoral Commission showed the Student List won 52.73 percent of the vote, while the list "United Serbia," led by Aleksandar Vučić, took 39.15 percent. After the results were released, Vučić acknowledged defeat. The election victory followed nearly two years of student and civic protests that began after the collapse of a station canopy in Novi Sad in November 2024 that killed 16 people and later expanded into a broader movement against corruption and Vučić's governing methods.

Photo: EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC