Thousands of protesters were expected to descend on the Serbian city of Kraljevo on Sunday, a day after President Aleksandar Vucic said he would be stepping down, paving the way for early presidential and parliamentary elections.
Vucic, who has been in power as prime minister or president for 12 years, has faced months of student-led protests sparked by the collapse of a concrete awning at a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad in late 2024 that killed 16 people.
The incident has become a symbol for what many see as government mismanagement and corruption under Vucic, and the ensuing protests have been the largest in Serbia since the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.
Vucic denies any corruption.
“This is not just a political struggle but a fight between good and evil,” said Jelena Danicic, a Serbian language professor who met friends in the city centre before the rally.
People braved the heat as they arrived in Kraljevo where hawkers sold T-shirts saying “Students are winning”.
What began as demands for justice for the dead later morphed into calls for Vucic to step down and early elections.
