Thousands of protesters, including a large number of students, have once again gathered this Sunday in the city of Kraljevo, in central Serbia, to protest against the government of President Aleksandar Vucic. The mobilizations continue despite the fact that on Saturday the president announced that he will leave the head of state position "in a few weeks".
In the central Square of the Serbian Fighter in Kraljevo, located about 160 kilometers south of Belgrade, numerous banners could be seen, including one with the message "The students are winning!", which has become one of the most repeated slogans during Sunday's protests.
The student movement has been in a standoff with the Serbian Executive since November 2024, when the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad train station caused the death of 16 people. Since then, discontent with the government's management has moved to the streets with massive demonstrations.
Faced with social pressure and indignation over the official response to the accident, the protests led in April of last year to the resignation of the then prime minister, Milos Vucevic, former mayor of Novi Sad. For approximately one year, the movement, which has been joined by citizens from different regions of the country, has also called for early elections.
This Sunday's event also had a symbolic dimension, coinciding with the commemoration of Vidovdan or Saint Vitus Day. On this date, the battle fought in 1389 in the Field of Kosovo or of the Blackbirds, today in Kosovo territory, in which a Christian army led by Serbs was defeated by Ottoman forces, is remembered. This episode, key in the Turkish expansion through the medieval Balkans, is considered in Serbia a foundational milestone of its national identity.
During the rally in Kraljevo, several Serbs from Kosovo took the floor to denounce that the corruption and lack of effectiveness they attribute to the Belgrade government further aggravate their daily difficulties. The province, with an Albanian majority and formerly under Serbian sovereignty, came under NATO control after the 1999 war, and has since been administered by the UN and the Atlantic Alliance itself.