<p>A movement that began in outrage has delivered remarkable election upset, showing that change is possible and prompting questions over what comes next</p><p><strong>• </strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/22/this-is-europe-sign-up-guardian-email-updates"><strong>Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here</strong></a></p><p>In April of last year, dozens of students set off from Serbia, intent on making it to Strasbourg, France on bicycles. The aim of the arduous, 13-day transcontinental journey was simple: to make their voices heard in Europe and beyond.</p><p>In their home city of Novi Sad, students had been holding near-daily protests after a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/01/roof-collapse-serbia-train-station-novi-sad">deadly roof collapse</a> at the city’s main railway station. As their push for accountability and justice spread across the country, it was met with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/14/serbia-protesters-clash-government-supporters-belgrade-novi-sad">baton-wielding police,</a> teargas and a political class that branded these young people as traitors.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/28/in-serbia-a-new-type-of-democracy-is-taking-hold-and-europe-is-watching-closely">Continue reading...</a>