Serbia's student movement toppled Vucic

By unseating longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic in Sunday's election, Serbia's student protest movement did what demonstrators in other European capitals can only dream of.



Now, though, comes the gritty business of governing - something neither the students nor their handpicked candidates have any experience of.



Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country to celebrate when Vucic conceded defeat late on Sunday in a historic poll that capped two years of peaceful anti-government protests.



But as the jubilant crowd lit flares and fireworks, sang and danced, questions lingered: who will emerge from this leaderless movement as prime minister, what exactly will their policies be, and can a bunch of political unknowns with no previous affiliation stick together to shore up the economy, root out graft and juggle complex international relations?



The answers will determine the political stability of Serbia, the largest economy in the Western Balkans, and its relations with China,



Russia, and its largest trading partner, the European Union.



The students' victory "is likely to trigger broad institutional and policy changes centred on anti-corruption, the rule of law, and better public services.