At 11:52 on Sunday morning, a vast crowd outside the railway station in Novi Sad stopped talking. Two years earlier, at exactly that minute, a concrete canopy over the station entrance gave way and killed 16 people. Mourners stood silent for 16 minutes, one for each life lost, then carried wreaths, roses and candles to a makeshift memorial while a choir sang and speakers demanded that those to blame finally face a judge.
Organisers and reporters counted mourners in their tens of thousands. What made this anniversary different was the political backdrop. Seven days earlier, voters had handed a parliamentary majority to the Student List, a slate picked by university assemblies that mixes academics, farmers, actors and activists. A preliminary count from 25 October gives the group 141 of the 250 seats, and final figures are not expected to alter that picture.
Aleksandar Vučić, who was finishing his term as president and had stood as his SNS party’s candidate for prime minister, conceded and stepped aside. Serbians are expected to choose a new head of state before December ends.
The tragedy became a lightning rod because the building had just been refurbished as part of a high-speed rail scheme backed by China. Many Serbs read the collapse as proof of graft and shoddy oversight. The demonstrations that followed toppled the construction minister, forced a reshuffle and eventually brought about the early election that ended the Vučić era.
Justice, however, has barely moved. Thirteen people were charged, but the case is stuck at the pretrial stage, and every defendant denies responsibility. Besides the 16 dead, one more person was seriously hurt.
Those who came on Sunday spoke of grief mixed with cautious optimism. One student supporter said she hoped for “collective healing”. A 32-year-old researcher from the city put it more bluntly: people should not wait years to fix what is broken when lives are at stake. The new majority will now be judged on whether it can deliver the accountability the crowds have demanded since 2024.
