Serbia’s student movement holds lessons for churches, WCC conversation hears

Serbia’s student movement holds lessons for churches, WCC conversation hears

iku

Thu, 11/12/2026 - 15:28

Students and scholars who took part in Serbia ’ s nonviolent, student-led movement told World Council of Churches (WCC) staff on 11 November that it was rooted in justice, love and solidarity, values at the heart of the Christian faith.

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Novi Sad in Serbia, where the student movement began after the canopy of the renovated railway station collapsed on 1 November 2024, killing 16 people.

Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

The movement began after the canopy of the renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed on 1 November 2024, killing 16 people. Students blockaded their faculties, organised through open assemblies called plenums, and brought an estimated 325,000 people onto the streets of Belgrade on 15 March 2025. On 25 October 2026, the Student List won 140 of 250 parliamentary seats, ending 14 years of rule by the Serbian Progressive Party.

Marija Tupanjanin, a master ’ s student at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Belgrade, described organising the March protest. Students wrote lawyers ’ phone numbers…