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Independent monitor estimates 150,000 rally in Belgrade before Serbian election

An independent monitor estimated about 150,000 attended Thursday's rally, part of nearly two years of protests over a 2024 canopy collapse.

Updated Oct 23, 2026 · 03:15 UTC4 reports

The short version

  • An independent monitor estimated about 150,000 people attended a student-led rally in central Belgrade on Thursday.[The Guardian · Deutsche Welle]
  • The student protest movement followed a 2024 railway station canopy collapse in Novi Sad that killed 16 people.[The Guardian · Deutsche Welle]
  • Vucic has accused the student movement of being a foreign-funded coup attempt and said any unrest after the vote would be quashed.[Al Jazeera · Associated Press · Deutsche Welle]
  • Civil society groups say conditions for free and fair elections are lacking, and Serbia has no reliable independent polling.[The Guardian · Al Jazeera · Deutsche Welle]

Key facts

  • The Archive of Public Gatherings, an independent crowd-monitoring group, estimated about 150,000 people attended the Thursday rally in central Belgrade.[The Guardian · Deutsche Welle]
  • The student-led protests were triggered by the 2024 collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people.[The Guardian · Deutsche Welle]
  • Aleksandar Vucic has accused the student movement of being a foreign-funded coup attempt.[Al Jazeera · Deutsche Welle]
  • Serbia lacks reliable independent polling, and surveys have produced widely differing results.[The Guardian · Al Jazeera]
  • Civil society groups, including 24 Serbian organizations, warned that conditions for free and fair elections were lacking.[Al Jazeera · Deutsche Welle]
  • Belgrade prosecutors questioned six people arrested on suspicion of plotting violence, riots and attacks on election day.[The Guardian · Al Jazeera]
  • Vucic has said any unrest after the vote would be swiftly quashed.[Associated Press · Deutsche Welle]

What remains uncertain

  • The 150,000 figure is an estimate from one monitoring group, not an official count.[The Guardian · Deutsche Welle]
  • Vucic's foreign-funding accusations against the student movement are his claims and are not substantiated in the provided reporting.[Al Jazeera · Deutsche Welle]
  • Political scientist Dusan Vucicevic's expectation that students will win more than 40 percent is an opinion, not a poll result.[Al Jazeera]
  • The six people questioned by Belgrade prosecutors were arrested on suspicion only, and the reporting does not establish charges.[The Guardian · Al Jazeera]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.