European student protests take aim at Serbia's elections

In Serbia, they've selected candidates to run for parliament in Sunday's elections. And they're aiming to end 14 years of government by the populist leader Aleksandar Vucic. Students across Europe have been taking to the streets in protest.

In Serbia, they're taking their movement to the ballot box, with a list of candidates ranging from academics and economists to athletes and engineers who are running in Sunday's parliamentary elections. They hope to end 14 years of rule by a populist leader in the Serbian Progressive Party. Guy De Launey reports from Serbia's capital, Belgrade.

GUY DE LAUNEY, BYLINE: Tens of thousands of people are gathering here at Slavija Square in the center of Serbia's capital, Belgrade. They're turning out for the final pre-election rally of the Student List. That's the opposition movement, which emerged from the long-running student-led protests.

Now it's posing the most serious challenge to Serbia's long-serving leader, Aleksandar Vucic, since his Progressive Party took power in 2012. MIHAIL DUDAS: I want people to be free - to be free to say whatever they want, to be free to talk about the political situation, to talk about the solutions. LAUNEY: Mihail Dudas represented Serbia in the decathlon at two Olympic Games.

Now he's among the people running for parliament on the Student List. DUDAS: I am very honored to be selected to be in 250 very, very smart, good, powerful people who are ready to basically change the direction in - for Serbia in the right direction. LAUNEY: Around 150,000 people attended the Student List rally this week, marking the culmination of a protest movement that started two years ago.

That's when a concrete canopy collapsed at the recently renovated railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second-largest city. Sixteen people died, and the disaster sparked student-led protests accusing Aleksandar Vucic of presiding over endemic corruption. He'd made infrastructure improvements a key part of his image as the strong leader steering Serbia into the future.