A wave of pro-democratic uprisings is pushing back against the rise of authoritarianism in the United States, Turkey, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and many other countries. In Serbia, four months of sustained protests have left the country in political limbo — without a functioning government and facing the prospect of yet another snap election.
The country has seen many large protest waves over the last decade, all targeted at the increasingly authoritarian rule of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and current President Aleksandar Vučić. Triggers for action have ranged from predatory urban development, to widespread electoral fraud, to environmental concerns over the activities of extractive industries in the country, to back-to-back mass shootings in May 2023. Why is the current movement different and will it lead to actual change this time?
Initial protests were organised in response to the tragic collapse of a canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people on 1 November 2024. Given that the station had been newly renovated, this led to immediate outrage over the corrupt practices of the governing party, to which this tragedy has been attributed. The government’s initial reaction was to remove documentation regarding the renovation from its websites and deny all responsibility.
In response, students at the Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts decided that stronger action was required and started a blockade at their faculty. Most universities across the country have since followed suit, with student blockades extending for more than 100 days at the time of writing.
Whole of society
A novel element of this movement is the broad support it has received from the population – regardless of age, education level, profession, or geographic location. Protests have been organised in practically every municipality throughout the country, including some of the poorest and most underdeveloped.
The government has made blanket claims that the movement is disingenuous and foreign-funded, accusing civil society organisations of using western funds to spark a colour revolution. In reality, traditional civil society is following the students’ lead while expressing strong support for the movement. This is reminiscent of the Otpor movement of the 1990s with its leaderless, apolitical approach. Large groups that have joined the students include teachers, pharmacists, farmers, and the Bar Association of Serbia, which halted its work for a month, stating that they cannot guarantee their clients’ fair treatment in a politically controlled judicial system.
Unprecedented levels of solidarity are noticeable across Serbian society. Scores of volunteers are bringing food to the students at the university blockades. When hundreds of Belgrade students walked to the protest in Novi Sad (100 km away), Belgrade taxi drivers volunteered to bring them back home. Moreover, the IT community has created a specialised donation platform, linking donors to striking teachers who have foregone their salaries to support the students.
Cracks are also showing in the notorious regime-controlled media environment in the country. While the public broadcaster continues to ignore protest sizes and demands, it is becoming more cumbersome. For example, at the 15 March protest in Belgrade – the largest in Serbia’s history – Radio Belgrade employees were told not to come to work, the broadcaster ostensibly fearing that they would report accurately on the event.
However, the level of state capture in the country means that all major institutions – the police, the judiciary, the army – remain aligned with or controlled by the ruling party.
No, you leave.
For years, Serbian youth has been accused of being too passive. So how come Serbia is now the scene of the biggest student-led movement in Europe since 1968?
It could be that Serbia’s youth is finally rejecting the narrative that emigration is the only way to have any chance at a better life. This attitude goes along with the rise of nationalist sentiment in the country. Young Serbs feel strongly connected to their country and refuse to be forced out if they want to live in a democratic system based on the rule of law. Students are showing the government that they will not be leaving – young Serbs want to stay and work to make their country a better place to live in. Accordingly, if anyone should leave, it is the present regime.
Many have decried this movement for the nationalist symbolism that is visible among the protesters. However, national symbols have shifted in meaning for many young Serbs who are too young to remember the aggressive Serbian nationalism that underwrote the Yugoslav wars. Given the overall insistence on rule of law, accountability and human rights, it must be concluded that the movement is democratic in nature, with national symbols being used against authoritarianism.
Where is the EU?
In similar contexts, such as Georgia, European symbolism became particularly prominent. However, given the fact that the EU has for years been extremely hesitant – at best – in its criticism of authoritarian trends in Serbia, the EU is no longer seen as a beacon of democratic progress.
Whilst student demands align with fundamental EU values, paradoxically the protesters have rarely seen the EU defend them in their home country. This has led to an overall alienation of the EU among democratically oriented Serbs.
While the regime might have hoped for escalation to justify a violent repression, the students have long shown their insistence on peaceful and orderly protest. This was particularly evident on 15 March at the historic protest attended by more than 300.000 people, which was preceded by a week of fearmongering by the government. They had created a buffer zone in front of the Presidential palace of hooligans posing as students calling for a return to class and had warned the international community that they expected the protesters to wreak havoc. Instead, the regime seems to have used a ‘sonic weapon’ on the crowd during the 15-minute silence in honour of the victims of the train station tragedy. At this moment, the riot police came out in full force – ostensibly waiting for a violent reaction from protestors, which never came.
Serbian students are currently holding a public lecture on what it means to defend the rule of law. It would be in the EU’s interest to condemn the regime’s dismissal of the students’ grievances and to acknowledge the fact that those people on the streets stand for everything the EU accession process aims to achieve in Serbia, but the government is simply not delivering.
Meanwhile, the EU is waiting for a viable alternative to materialise before shifting its allegiance away from the Vucic regime. However, as long as the EU supports the regime, this alternative will not be able to emerge.
This continuing support of the regime is even more confusing when considering the disdain with which government officials have traditionally treated their EU counterparts. One of the most recent examples includes the head of the SNS faction in Parliament refusing to meet with the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Serbia, stating he had more important things to do, namely ‘to organise his socks by colour’.
What now?
This is arguably the biggest challenge the regime of President Vučić has faced, with his approval rating taking a significant hit for the first time since his ascent to power in 2012. This also makes it a dangerous time for civil society as those in power are looking to repress dissent. The regime has been emboldened by the US funding freeze, launching a new attack on civil society organisations, accusing them of trying to bring the country down with foreign funds. This led to armed police raids of key civil society organisations in Belgrade, which were a clear attempt at intimidation.
All parties are now left with the question, whereto now? A new prime minister has been appointed following the government’s resignation, but it is a well known fact that power in Serbia lies almost exclusively in the hands of Aleksandar Vučić, despite the country having a parliamentary system. There are now speculations that he might follow Vladimir Putin’s example and rotate back to the premiership, given that his second – and last – presidential mandate expires in two years time. Vučić and his regime have shown for years that they are not inclined towards compromise – despite the EU’s continual calls for dialogue. He has weathered many a protest movement by simply waiting for it to lose steam, but the current movement seems only to be gathering in strength. Moreover, in doing so, it seems to already have created irrevocable change in the traditionally fatalist Serbian society by giving people hope that things can be different.
Serbian students and citizens are well aware that they are playing the long game here. However, they are intent on pushing for systemic change, no matter how long it takes.
Author
Emma Quaedvlieg is a Policy Manager at the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD). Her work focuses on media pluralism and disinformation, while also supporting the Combatting Disinformation in the Western Balkans project. She previously worked as Programme Coordinator of the Western Balkans team at the European Endowment for Democracy in Brussels (’20-’24) and as International Advisor to the Mayor of Šabac in Serbia (’19-’20). Other experience includes stints at the IOM in the Netherlands, the Council of Europe office in Geneva, and the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights. She holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies/University of Sussex and a BA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Nottingham.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Photo credit: ©Dejan Krsmanovic, flickr, 2025