Thousands rally in Novi Sad to demand early elections

Thousands of people filled the streets of Novi Sad on Saturday, turning the anniversary of a deadly railway-station collapse into a demand for snap general elections. What began as grief over a public-works tragedy has hardened into a broader challenge to Serbia’s political order, with protesters treating the broken canopy as proof of corruption, negligence and a state that failed to protect its citizens.

The collapse at Novi Sad railway station happened on November 1, 2024, at 11:52 a.m. local time, killing 16 people and severely injuring one more. Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, has since become the focal point of a movement that sees the disaster not as an isolated accident but as a symbol of weak oversight and official impunity. On Saturday, marchers again gathered there to keep the dead at the center of public anger and to push the government toward early elections.

Students have driven the protests from the start, and their movement has remained active into 2026, spreading beyond Novi Sad to Belgrade and other cities. The rallies have at times turned violent, but they have also shown endurance, drawing large crowds even in difficult conditions. By May, tens of thousands had already rallied across Serbia for early elections, underscoring how the station collapse has become a rallying point for a wider anti-government campaign.

The legal fallout has only deepened the sense of crisis. Serbian prosecutors and police later pursued multiple suspects in the reconstruction case, including former Trade Minister Tomislav Momirovic and former Transport Minister Goran Vesic. Judges returned an indictment for further investigation before proceedings continued, keeping the case alive and politically charged. For many protesters, that drawn-out process has only reinforced the idea that the institutions meant to deliver accountability move too slowly, or not at all, when powerful figures are involved.

The pressure now falls on President Aleksandar Vucic, who has ruled for 13 years alongside the Serbian Progressive Party. Saturday’s rally showed that the movement sparked by the Novi Sad collapse still has enough force to keep Serbia’s leadership on the defensive. What began with a station awning has become a test of whether the government can still claim legitimacy in the face of sustained public anger.