Serbia’s Student Victors Demand Police and Intelligence Chiefs Go
Newly elected Student List MPs have called on the heads of Serbia’s police, the BIA security agency and its anti-terror unit to stand down. The demand comes days after the movement ousted Aleksandar Vučić’s party from power. The movement fears that evidence of wrongdoing could be destroyed during the weeks-long handover.
The movement grew out of protests after a railway station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing 16 people. Its “Student Plan” promises to “halt the plunder, return stolen goods to the state budget, and invest directly in education and the economy”. The clear-out has already begun: Manja Grčić, director of the state broadcaster RTS, has stepped down, and the new MPs want the head of Telekom Srbija replaced. The new MPs are novices, including professors, artists, athletes and as many as 12 doctors. Their test is whether they can turn protest energy into an orderly transfer of power.