San Francisco Frontiers - 'Smells of freedom': Serbians hopeful after landmark election

A celebratory mood gripped the capital, with drivers honking their horns and passers-by holding up three fingers -- the winning list's ballot number and a Serbian greeting.

Many wore badges and other symbols of the student movement, while a large group of residents spent the day cleaning up a park between parliament and the presidency after Vucic loyalists, who had camped there for more than a year, fled.

The convincing upset victory in Sunday's vote follows nearly two years of anti-government protests, ending 14 years in power for Vucic's party.

On the city's streets, people told AFP that they felt hope, relief and exhilaration a day after the upset vote.

- Unforgettable moment -

"The moment we learned that he had conceded defeat is one that, I am certain, no one from my generation will ever forget," 23-year-old medical student Milutin Kandic told AFP, referring to Vucic's concession.

"People are now walking around freely, smiling, and some are crying," she said.

- 'Smells of freedom' -

"Today, I think, we have finally found freedom," design student Katarina Malesevic said.

"You can feel it everywhere in Belgrade, at last, there is peace, and we can walk around," the 23-year-old said.

"We have just been walking around, looking at the people and the atmosphere, and you can feel that the air is completely different. Everything smells of freedom."

- 'Awakening' -

Ljubisa Vujosevic, 75, said that he was "extremely pleased that the gap between the student list and Vucic's list was so wide and decisive that the latter have no longer any grounds for dissatisfaction or complaints.

"This change of government also means a political awakening among the people, the gaining of freedom and a change in how Serbia is portrayed in the international media."

- 'A celebration' -

"At last, Serbia has won. The right thing has been done, and at the right time," Dragan Miladinovic, 73, said.

"What happened last night genuinely thrilled me," he said.

"I was at a celebration, and there were smiling faces everywhere. It was incredible."

U.Lee--SFF