BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The first session of Serbia's new Parliament, which will be dominated by a student-led movement following its election triumph last month, will be held on Nov. 17, the outgoing parliament speaker said on Sunday.
Ana Brnabic scheduled the inaugural parliamentary meeting after Serbia's election authorities last week declared the final results of the Oct. 25 vote.
The Students' List won 140 seats in the 250-member assembly while the Serbian Progressive Party won 103, according to those results. The remaining seats go to the parties of ethnic minorities in Serbia.
The students led two years of street protests before they toppled strongman Aleksandar Vucic in the election. Protests erupted in response to a train station canopy collapse that killed 16 people in the country’s north in November 2024, which many in Serbia blamed on corruption in state infrastructure projects.
The Students’ List election candidates included mostly professors, teachers and various other experts in their fields but with hardly any political experience, who will now take up parliamentary seats. The group promised to restore the rule of law and terminate corruption that they said flourished under Vucic.
The Parliament will first choose a new speaker and other parliamentary bodies. Then a new government should be formed within 90 days.
Serbia also must hold an early presidential election by the end of the year after Vucic resigned the post on Sept. 27 in a failed attempt to become the next prime minister.
Though the election winners have yet to take office, the change in the balance of power has led to a series of detentions relating to cases of suspected election fraud, attacks on student protesters and corruption. Vucic has accused his opponents of a “revolutionary terror,” though his right-wing party is still in charge.
The SNS party had ruled the country almost unchallenged for 14 years, controlling all layers of power and state institutions. The party has faced accusations of corruption and cronyism and of organized crime links, which it has denied.
The student movement’s victory has resonated beyond Serbia's borders at a time when many European countries face youth-led protests. Serbia is formally seeking European Union entry but the process had stalled under Vucic, who has maintained close relations with Russia and China.
Aleksandar Vucic, leader of the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) speaks at the party headquarters, after conceding defeat in the parliamentary election in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
People celebrate outside the National Assembly, after Aleksandar Vucic, leader of the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) conceded defeat in the parliamentary election in Belgrade, Serbia, early Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday, after a 24-year-old man with far-right views drove into a busy central square in Krakow and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 15 others before police shot and wounded him.
The attack, which Poland’s defense minister described as an “act of terror,” happened on Saturday in Main Square, which is in the heart of Krakow’s Old Town and is a major tourist hub in the country’s second-largest city.
By evening, mourners had left candles in memory of the victims. The square remained partially closed on Sunday morning as authorities continued their investigation.
St. Mary’s Trumpet Call, a traditional five-note melody played every hour from the highest tower of St. Mary’s Basilica on the Main Square, was paused overnight in tribute to the victims. It is the first time the call has been missed since World War II.
Marie-Ange Collaer wrote on Facebook that she and her family survived the shooting during a trip to Krakow from Brussels.
“We literally ran for our lives and managed to hide from the bullets flying around,” she wrote. “Lying on the floor in a shop like in a bad police movie whilst you hear bullets everywhere.”
Collaer said her family was shaky and “quite in shock” after returning to their hotel but everyone was grateful to be alive.
“We saw a few that did not make it, true horror,” she wrote.
U.K. resident Neil Thaxton and his wife, Nicky, also survived the attack.
“We had just walked through the main square and heard the gunshots,” Thaxton wrote on Facebook. “We thought it was fireworks then people started running, we went into a gift shop and the staff took us in the back of the shop and locked the doors and turned the lights off.”
The prosecutors said on Sunday they started an investigation for murder and attempted murder of numerous people, including police officers, with the act “constituting a terrorist offense.”
Authorities also found three dead bodies at the man's family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a city about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Krakow. The police said on Sunday they were the bodies of the attacker's sister, mother and father.
The family members likely died from gunshot wounds, the police said.
Four women and two men were killed in the Main Square shooting. Three of the women and one of the men were Polish, Krzysztof Jan Klęczar, the Malopolska regional governor, said on Sunday. A man from the U.K. and a woman from an unidentified foreign country were also among the dead.
The two police officers who stopped the attacker, in actions authorities hailed as heroic, remain in hospital. One of them is still in a coma while the other woke up from a coma, Klęczar said. Officials launched an appeal for blood donations for the benefit of the most seriously wounded policeman.
“If it weren’t for the efficient and selfless intervention of these two young men, the number of victims could have been significantly higher,” Klęczar said.
Five non-Poles are among the wounded. They come from the U.K., Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.
The attacker is also in a critical state, having been operated on multiple times.
There was confusion on Saturday about the shooter's age, with authorities first saying 24 and later 25. On Sunday they confirmed that he is 24.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the attacker holds “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views.
“Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” Kierwiński said at a news conference.
Videos posted on social media by witnesses show people running away from the square to take cover on small streets nearby, as well as first responders trying to resuscitate victims. In one video, a police officer is seen repeatedly shooting the attacker, who is lying on the street, only to later slowly collapse to the ground himself.
Klęczar said the attacker's father owned over 10 guns legally and that the attacker also owned guns. Local officials in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski said they seized seven weapons from the family home, bringing the total number recovered to 11, including four found in the possession of the attacker in Krakow or in his car.
Around 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, which has a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. However, in mid-October three attacks at schools in the central province of Mazovia took place within four days, leaving one person dead and many wounded, including children. The young attackers used knives or other sharp objects.
The Krakow attacker’s military gear, guns and overall look were similar to those of other “extreme right lone actors” committing attacks around Europe, said Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague.
“We have had attempts before, but now we can say that these kinds of attacks have become successful in Poland.”
Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press journalist Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.
Police officers stand at the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
A woman lights a candle near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
The flag of Poland flies at half-mast at the town hall in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
Candles stand near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
A back flag hangs at a house near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
A police barrier tape is fixed at a broken storefront window near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
Forensic investigators work next to police privacy screens in a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
A forensic investigator takes photos next to the vehicle allegedly used by a shooter who opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
