Slavija May 23: more than a hundred thousand gather, election demand repeated
The student rally at Slavija drew, by organisers' estimates, more than a hundred thousand citizens from across Serbia, with the central demand of calling early elections.
Slavija Square in Belgrade drew, on May 23, by organisers’ estimates, more than a hundred thousand citizens from across Serbia, while the police director put attendance at around 34,400. The rally, under the slogan “You and I, Slavija,” began a few minutes before 6 p.m. and ran until 8 p.m., as the student plenum had previously announced. The central demand from the stage was unchanged: calling early parliamentary elections.
Before arriving at Slavija, citizens gathered at four locations: at the Faculty of Agriculture in Zemun, at the Faculty of Law on Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra, at Autokomanda and at Trg Republike. From each location columns set off at 3 p.m. for the central point. From outside Belgrade, buses were organised from eight districts, and free accommodation was offered through Belgrade hosts, registered via a portal that experienced technical problems on Friday.
What the speakers said from the stage
Andrej Tanko, one of the coordinators of the student plenums at the Faculty of Philosophy, said the student movement has turned into a popular movement and suggested the slogan “Students Are Winning” should be reformulated as “The People Are Winning.” Dr Ilija Srdanovic, a member of the Medical Chamber of Vojvodina, presented proposals for reorganising the healthcare system, with emphasis on primary care and hospital investment. Jugoslav Ristic, a former trade union official, spoke about cheap labour and the need for decent working conditions.
Professor Vladan Djokic, Rector of the University of Belgrade, said from the stage that 2026 should be marked by the struggle for university autonomy, human rights and academic freedoms. Vladimir Dugalic, president of Crvena Zvezda, and basketball coach Dejan Bodiroga attended the rally, but did not speak.
Political scientist Bojan Vranic, in a piece for the weekly Vreme after the rally, judged that the programme from the stage was “politics against rather than politics for.” In his view, the movement has the strength of mobilisation and public trust, but did not present a rounded political programme. Concrete points (lustration, a law on the origin of property, the Kosovo question) were announced declaratively without elaboration.
What are the concrete demands?
The demands repeated from the stage by a second speaker, student Ivan Bjelic, remained the same as over the past eighteen months: an immediate calling of early parliamentary elections, the formation of a transitional government of experts, and the full implementation of the Law on the Election of People’s Deputies. A source close to the organising committee said the plenums have decided to draft a broader declaration after Slavija that would cover local self-government and the judicial system as well.
From the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, spokesperson Sandra Bozic told Pink TV that the number of attendees was “significantly smaller than announced” and that the rally was “just an attempt to deepen the political crisis.” SNS executive board president Darko Glisic repeated the line that “blockaders will not defeat the government, they will defeat the opposition in the Assembly.”
From the opposition, Democratic Party president Zoran Lutovac and Party of Freedom and Justice vice-president Marinika Tepic attended the rally without addressing the crowd. Tepic told reporters at Slavija that she supports the students and that “the rally showed the real mood of the citizens.” From the Movement of Free Citizens, president Pavle Grbovic was also present.
Police deployed an estimated two thousand officers around the rally and in surrounding streets, according to Interior Ministry data. Police Director Dragan Vasiljevic, according to the same source, coordinated operations from a command centre on Bulevar Mihajla Pupina.
Notably, for the first time since the protest of March 15, 2025, representatives of other university centres were significantly present at Slavija: notably from Nis, Kragujevac, Novi Sad, Subotica and Uzice. A source close to student coordination said 47 buses were organised from outside Belgrade, while the number of passenger cars in columns exceeded two thousand. The Belgrade Centre for Democracy, which carried out a headcount for its own analytical purposes, estimates the crowd at between 80,000 and 110,000, in line with the organisers’ figure.
Will the student plenums come out with a written rounded programme by the end of May?
