Just three decades ago, Serbia was the most warmongering place in Europe. On Sunday night, its capital, Belgrade, was the scene of a celebration of peace and joy after parliamentary elections turned out an autocratic ruling party, in a win for a student movement that has no leader and largely put up nonstudent candidates.

Most of the student movement’s winning candidates hold doctorate degrees, of whom 44% are women.

The Student List, as it’s called, now faces the task of bringing transparency and accountability to a government soaked in crony corruption. Its success in better governance could ricochet across the Balkan states after centuries of violent ethnic rivalries.

“Serbia is a normal country again,” Andjela Markovic, a nurse from Belgrade, told the London-based Financial Times.

“We proved that we can be just like any other nation, where people love their country and love each other even when they disagree.”

Reasons for the election victory include a rising disdain for strongman leaders and a…