On 1 February, hundreds of thousands of citizens poured into the streets of Novi Sad in anticipation of a special guest. Standing by the city’s gates, they welcomed a group of 400 students who had spent the last two days sleeping out in the winter cold, marching 80 KM from Belgrade. Joined by hundreds of bikers and farmers on tractors, this critical mass blockaded all three of the city’s bridges in a moment that not only crystallised the past three months of protests; but one that symbolised a breakthrough in collective consciousness, the likes Europe had never seen before.
Serbia’s ongoing civil resistance was triggered on 1 November last year, when the main railway station in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people and severely injuring two others. The government’s flip-flopping and lack of transparency over the station’s prior reconstruction later revealed to have been opened without an operational license, ignited public frustration over unchecked corruption and a wider lack of accountability. After a vigil organised by the Faculty of Dramatic Arts was attacked by an organised group, allegedly containing high-ranking members of the ruling party, students responded with an unprecedented move; a nationwide blockade of universities until their list of demands were met. As of now, almost all 80 public universities are occupied, self-governed by direct democracy through plenums and refurbished into living spaces.
Critically, none of their demands are political: all they are demanding is for state institutions to function correctly, the release of all relevant documentation, and the prosecution of those responsible. Through their insistence on the rule of law, the Serbian students have posed the greatest threat the ruling party has faced since assuming power.
Upon their election, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) promised an alternative pro-EU path. In their decade of rule, they have shown to be only progressive in name, transforming Serbia into a crony partocracy. With 800,000 members, the SNS has earned its status as the largest political party in Europe through a nepotistic infrastructure where party membership rewards individuals with public sector employment, while ordinary public sector employees are blackmailed into voting for them. The SNS, commonly described as an “octopus,” has spread its tentacles into both the police and courts, while strongman president Aleksandar Vučić’s domination of the media has cultivated a cult-of-personality, blurring the lines between party and state.
The movement is becoming much more than a straw to break the back of Serbia’s ruling regime. It has emerged as an antidote to decades of apathy marked by false promises of renewal and persistent systemic corruption. Without the support of any opposition party, the students have on their own mobilised the entire nation, sparking strikes of solidarity from education workers, lawyers, and farmers, as well as protests in more than 200 cities, towns, and villages. Vučić’s SNS has smeared students through their propaganda outlets, but they have been put on the back foot through the resignations of key ministerial figures, including the PM. Nothing has been able to extinguish the wave of collective consciousness born from students’ desire to live in a fair society governed by the rule of law.
These are the largest protests Serbia has ever seen, and one of the most unique movements to ever take shape in Europe. With the current anxieties around the rise of populism, wealth inequality, and the general lack of trust in political parties to represent the people; one thing we can learn from the Serbian youth is that we don’t need to wait for anyone to save us. Our solidarity can transform society.
Image by the Students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade