It took me a moment to refresh the election results page on my phone, which I had been eagerly checking throughout the entire journey, desperate for every live update.
The students had won!
That night, it seemed as though almost the entire city had taken to the streets. People poured into the center of Kragujevac, waving Serbian flags, dancing the kolo (Serbia’s traditional folk dance), singing traditional Yugoslav songs and celebrating together. Fireworks lit up the night sky as the celebrations continued, adding to an atmosphere that felt surreal. Even as someone who wasn’t originally from Serbia, I felt like a Serb that night. It was, without exaggeration, one of the greatest displays of collective love and joy I have ever witnessed.
Strangers embraced one another in the streets, raising three fingers in a gesture of solidarity with the student movement, whose electoral list carried the number three. People cried openly, overcome with emotion, while crowds sang “Idemo, idemo, idemo, Srbija!” (Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, Serbia!). There was an overwhelming sense of patriotic pride and collective hope, as people celebrated the possibility of a brighter future for a nation that is so often overlooked and misunderstood on the global stage.
It was particularly moving to witness how people from different generations and walks of life came together. For many, this was about more than an election victory. It was about the possibility of rebuilding trust in their institutions, having their voices heard, and imagining a country in which future generations might have greater opportunities.
What moved me most, however, was not simply the outcome of the election, but what the entire experience reminded me of.
