Students in the blockade announced that almost 400,000 people have supported their demand for the calling of snap parliamentary elections in Serbia.
They organised the signature-collecting campaign on Sunday, 28 December, in more than 100 cities and municipalities, at over 500 stands. People waited in queues despite the cold weather to give their support to the students, and photos and videos from numerous locations across Serbia flooded social media, once again showing how much trust citizens place in the students.
“This action proved to us that even after more than a year of constant struggle, the will and strength have not faded,” the students in the blockade wrote on Instagram.
Now that impressions have settled somewhat, and once the students and other citizens saw how many people came out to support this idea, the students point out that the figure of nearly 400,000 people is fantastic and shows that a large number of citizens believe in it and that the struggle is still ongoing. Vukašin, a student from Novi Sad, told Nova.rs that it was already clear during the day on Sunday that the final number of people supporting the students would be large, and that nothing stopped citizens from coming out and giving their signature.
“Truly an impressive figure! I was at the stand all day at Republic Square and I can say that it was crowded the whole time, and we didn’t even know where to direct so many people to sign. So it was already evident during the day that the number would be impressive. I’m glad that so many people responded and that really nothing stopped them from coming to support us, not even the cold weather. Many elderly people came, even those with limited mobility. Their desire was stronger, to come and show support, to show that despite all their personal difficulties, they are here for us and support this struggle of ours. We saw that one gentleman aged 102 came, so that is truly fascinating; it was a very beautiful feeling,” Vukašin emphasised.
He notes that there was a pleasant and energetic atmosphere at the stand throughout the day.
“As for the number itself, once again we shattered the delusions of those in power that they are the so-called silent majority, and once again we showed why they are afraid to call snap elections and why they are trying to delay them. If we managed to collect such a number of signatures in less than a single day, just imagine what will happen during the actual election campaign and on election day itself,” he said. He adds that he absolutely believes in the students’ victory and thinks they have already demonstrated this clearly, as shown by the example of the elections in Sečanj.
“This year we had five local elections. Sečanj was a place where the authorities previously had absolute support; there was no opposition at all, no structure that could oppose the government in that municipality. The students managed to achieve a result of 30 per cent in such an apparently completely lost and pre-determined municipality. We managed to wake people up, to help them organise, to shake them out of apathy,” the Nova.rs interlocutor says.
He underlines that students noticed that people have become active even in the smallest places and that fear no longer exists.
“We saw this during the signature-collecting action as well. It was organised in many villages in Vojvodina, in almost all municipalities, and everywhere people showed that they are here, that they are no longer afraid, that they have a desire within them. We definitely expect victory both in the local elections awaiting us next year and in the parliamentary elections,” Vukašin concludes.
A student from Niš points out that he personally expected strong public support, because he knows how much the students have achieved over the past year and how long the protests have lasted. “It simply can’t just fade away like that. As for the turnout, it seems logical to me, because a huge number of people, I can even say the majority of Serbia, support this common struggle. That number is a clear indicator that the protests are still ongoing and that the fight continues. Collecting almost half a million signatures in just a few hours is an enormous, unimaginable thing, and you can only imagine what it would have been like if this action had lasted five or seven days. For us, in a period when there is a subjective feeling that everything has gone quiet, this is a good indicator and a boost, showing that we are all still committed to the same idea and that we are here until the demands are fulfilled,” he said.
He adds that he believes the authorities became concerned from the moment students agreed to take part in elections that many already suspect in advance will be rigged.
“I think the support is so great that they physically cannot organise themselves well enough to steal a sufficient number of votes in order to win. Of course they have reason to be afraid. Anyone who has done so much harm for so long should fear an angry public that is truly, at this moment, hungry and yearning for justice,” he stresses.
A student from the Faculty of Organisational Sciences emphasises that students are satisfied with the public response and that they did not expect to collect such a large number of signatures.
“This is another in a series of victories for students and citizens. We showed that with very little effort, with a short campaign and without presence in national broadcast media, with stands that operated for six or seven hours, we managed to gather a large number of people. On the other hand, the authorities, even with blackmail and pressure, cannot gather even ten times fewer people at their rallies,” he emphasises. He adds that the authorities do not want to call elections because they know that would mark their end, as they cannot win them.
“We will do everything we can to make those elections happen. We believe they will happen sooner or later, and we are ready for them. We see all of this as something very positive; we have awakened the public a little. If we can collect 400,000 signatures for an informal poll while they cannot gather even 40,000 people, that is a sign that the time for change has come,” our student interlocutor concludes.
(Nova, 30.12.2025)