S tanding on the streets of Belgrade, as passing cars honked excitedly and revellers high-fived police officers, Sara, 24, gestures to the streets around her to explain just how much things had changed for Serbia’s student-led movement.

Moments earlier, the country’s longstanding leader, Aleksandar Vučić, had conceded defeat to the student movement, ushering in a seismic political shift in the Balkan country.

It was a surreal reversal of fortunes for the hundreds of thousands of people who had spent nearly two years peacefully protesting against a ruling power that had become increasingly authoritarian. “It’s very strange that on the very streets where the police beat us, on the streets where we retreated countless times in the face of the gendarmerie, we are now standing here as the victors,” says Sara.

Sara, 24, centre, celebrates the opposition election win in Belgrade, Serbia, flanked by her friends.…