Serbia votes on Sunday. Carry cash and charge your phone
What happened
On 22 October 2026 the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office added new information to its Serbia travel advice about parliamentary elections. Serbia goes to the polls on Sunday 25 October 2026. The advice says political demonstrations and large gatherings are taking place in Belgrade and other towns and cities in the run-up to the elections. It warns that demonstrations may also happen on election day itself and in the days after. Two features of these gatherings are flagged. They can be organised at short notice. And they can cause significant disruption, including to public transport and to mobile phone networks. The FCDO's instruction is to plan ahead to avoid disruption, to check with your travel provider, and to monitor local and international media for the latest information. The advice sits alongside a longer-standing section on Serbia's political situation. That section notes that mass gatherings and demonstrations have been taking place in Belgrade and other towns and cities, that most are peaceful, but that there is potential for situations to escalate quickly, and that some demonstrations have turned violent. The FCDO does not advise against travel to Serbia. This is practical advice for people who are going.
Why this matters
Most people reading travel advice are looking for one thing: is it safe to go? Here the answer is that Serbia is open and the FCDO is not telling anyone to stay away. What it is telling you is that this particular weekend will be busier and less predictable than usual. The detail that deserves attention is the mobile phone network warning. We plan modern trips assuming a working phone — maps, tickets, taxis, the hotel address, contactless payment, the ability to tell someone where you are. Large gatherings can overload networks even without anyone switching anything off. If your boarding pass, your hotel booking and your money all live in one phone, a network outage during a crowded weekend is a genuine problem rather than an inconvenience. The same goes for public transport. If buses and trams in central Belgrade are disrupted on Sunday, a tight airport connection becomes a missed flight. There is a second reason this matters, and it is about behaviour rather than logistics. A political demonstration in another country is not a spectacle for visitors. Election periods raise tempers, and a foreign onlooker filming a crowd can attract exactly the attention they would least want. The FCDO's advice is to stay away from areas where protests are taking place, and to leave immediately if you encounter disorderly crowds or a violent situation.
What the evidence actually says
It is worth being accurate about the level of risk described here, in both directions. The FCDO has not changed its overall advice on travel to Serbia. There is no advice against travel to any part of the country. What has been added is information, not a warning to stay away. The advice also says explicitly that most gatherings are peaceful. That is an important qualifier that headlines tend to drop. It does, however, note the potential for things to escalate quickly, and that some demonstrations have turned violent. On terrorism, the advice says attacks in Serbia cannot be ruled out and that attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners. It notes that terrorists may target religious sites, including churches. The most recent specific incident it records is from June 2024, when a lone attacker fired at a police officer with a crossbow outside the Israeli Embassy in the Savski Venac area of Belgrade. That is a single incident from more than two years ago, and it should be read as context rather than as a current alarm. On ordinary crime, the advice is the standard advice for any European city: pickpockets work in tourist areas, airports, on public transport and at motorway service stations, and criminals may assume foreigners carry large amounts of cash. Four-wheel-drive and luxury vehicles are also noted as common targets. What the advice does not do is predict trouble. It does not say violence is expected on 25 October. It says gatherings may happen with little notice and may disrupt things.
Practical advice
If you are travelling to Serbia around 25 October, these are the FCDO's own suggestions, plus the obvious consequences of them. Keep up to date with local developments, and check local and international media. Plan ahead to avoid disruption. If you have a flight, train or coach on Sunday or in the days after, build in much more time than usual, and check with your travel provider before you set off. Carry a reasonable amount of cash. This is the advice most people would not think of, and it is there because electronic payment networks can be disrupted. If your card does not work and your phone has no signal, cash is what gets you a taxi. Charge your phone, and charge your power bank. The advice specifically asks travellers to make sure phones, power banks and other important devices are charged and ready. Download your maps, tickets and hotel details for offline use, and write the address of where you are staying on a piece of paper. Stay away from areas where protests or demonstrations are happening. If you find yourself near disorderly crowds or a violent situation, leave immediately rather than watching. Take the usual precautions against pickpocketing in cities, on public transport and at service stations. And sign up for FCDO email alerts for Serbia before you go, so any change reaches you rather than waiting for you to look.
What to know
On 22 October 2026 the FCDO added information to its Serbia travel advice about parliamentary elections on Sunday 25 October 2026. Political demonstrations and large gatherings are taking place in Belgrade and other towns and cities, may continue on election day and afterwards, can be organised at short notice, and can significantly disrupt public transport and mobile phone networks. The FCDO does not advise against travel to Serbia. Most gatherings are peaceful, but some have turned violent and situations can escalate quickly. Practical steps: monitor local media, allow much more time for travel, carry a reasonable amount of cash in case electronic payments are disrupted, keep phones and power banks charged, save maps and tickets offline, stay away from demonstrations and leave immediately if you encounter disorderly crowds. Normal city precautions against pickpocketing also apply. Sources: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, "Serbia travel advice", updated 22 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/serbia; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, "Serbia travel advice: Warnings and insurance", https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/serbia/warnings-and-insurance; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, "Serbia travel advice: Safety and security", https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/serbia/safety-and-security This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist, travel health clinic or other qualified healthcare professional. Check the current FCDO advice for Serbia shortly before you travel, as it can change at short notice.
Related articles
A football tournament, a closed border, and why an emergency passport is not enough
On 23 October 2026 the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated its entry requirements advice for Azerbaijan. Three things changed. The first is a…
No in-person help, and no promise of evacuation: the Niger advice
On 23 October 2026 the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated its travel advice for Niger. The update revised information about attacks near the…
A national strike on 30 October, and a new line in the Italy travel advice
On 21 October 2026 the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated its travel advice for Italy. The update added information about a national strike p…