Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Oct 30
Serbia's Student List Demands Top Security Resignations After Winning 141 Seats
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Oct 30

Serbia's Student List Demands Top Security Resignations After Winning 141 Seats

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Oct 30

Summary

  • Days after ousting Aleksandar Vučić's party, Serbia's student-backed winners called for the heads of the police, BIA intelligence agency and anti-terror unit to step down immediately.
  • The movement says a weeks-long handover risks destruction of evidence tied to alleged wrongdoing, and it also wants any police officers who broke the law dismissed.
  • RTS director Manja Grčić has already resigned, while the new MPs are also targeting Telekom Srbija's leadership as they push to free media and start anti-corruption reforms.
  • The 141 MPs—chosen by students under a 1,200-page plan—face a difficult purge of institutions long dominated by Vučić loyalists, with acting president Ana Brnabić accusing them of pursuing 'revolutionary justice.'
  • Domestic reform is expected to take priority over foreign policy, even as the EU backs rule-of-law changes and Serbia still balances ties with Brussels, Russia and China before December presidential elections.

Insights

With the December presidential elections looming, will Serbia's ousted elites weaponize the new government's lack of structure to regain power?
How will a decentralized reformist government navigate Serbia's geopolitical tightrope between EU integration and deep-rooted Russian ties?
Can a leaderless coalition of political novices successfully dismantle a 14-year deep state without triggering a security crisis?