Protests in Serbia have been ongoing for an extended period, with demands for accountability regarding the tragedy at the Novi Sad railway station. The protests now focus on exposing government corruption, with President Aleksandar Vučić facing accusations of autocratic rule. Initially sparked by students in Novi Sad, the protests have spread and grown into university blockades in Belgrade, Niš, and Kragujevac. As student protests intensify, the government and its controlled media have responded with increasingly harsh rhetoric. On RTV Serbia, protesters are labeled as “foreign mercenaries,” while President Vučić urges them “not to quarrel and fight over money for the sake of overthrowing the government.”
In the show PERSPEKTIVA, young people frequently mention how they are quickly labeled whenever attempting to initiate change.
Nemanja and Mihaela agree.
“Everyone tries to put me in a box and stick a label on me because of my views, opinions, and so on.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/bosna-hercegovina-perspektiva-mladi-prozor-rama/32256437.html
“ As soon as you express a viewpoint that differs from the majority, you’re automatically marginalized.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-banjaluka/32278148.html
Such pressures have direct consequences on the future of young people, as confirmed by Lazar from Trebinje and Andrea from Novi Sad.
“I was the student of the generation with a 4.0 GPA, the winner of numerous awards, with one published book, as well as 10 scientific papers. Do you understand what 10 scientific papers means?! I speak two world languages. Yet, I’ve been unemployed since September because I express my opinion publicly, and I was explicitly told that.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-u-trebinju/32375801.html
“I fear for my future. I am afraid, for example, whether I will have bread to eat tomorrow, or if I’ll be rejected at a job interview just because I’m not affiliated with a political party. Will it be enough that I am studying, getting an education, and that I will be, I hope, exceling in my profession to earn a decent living? I’m afraid to speak out on certain issues, worried that someone might confront me in a park or at the student dorms in Novi Sad and harm me, as I’ve received threats for speaking out publicly. So, I fear for my life the lives of my family, and my loved ones.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-novi-sad/32400479.html
Nadja from Podgorica does not think that the labeling of young people who want change is merely the result of the aggressiveness of the authorities, but that it is rooted in a much deeper issue. She believes it is rooted in education.
“Our educational system promotes a set of values that encourages conformity. Different opinions and views are not accepted. As a result, all the problems faced by young people can be summed up into one major issue: the refusal to listen to them. They have been ignored for so long that they, the young people, have given up fighting for their rights and the solutions to their problems.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perpektiva-mladi-crna-gora-problemi/32804765.html
Asja from Sarajevo, however, disagrees with the idea that youth should give up on their demands for change. She believes young people must become more active.
“It’s almost unbelievable to me how we all want change, and we all talk about how we NEED change, but not how we SHOULD make change. We are the ones who can make it happen. We can’t keep waiting for those who have been organizing protests and petitions for the past 30 years to do it for us. This is no longer their future; it’s ours.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perpektiva-u-sarajevu/32995305.html
In Belgrade, students humorously responded to the Serbian president’s claim that they were fighting over money by printing banknotes with his image and assigning them a value of zero.
Support messages poured in from Zagreb, Sarajevo, and Banja Luka. From Sarajevo, the message was “They haven’t beat us yet,” while someone in Belgrade remarked, “Our children are now lecturing us!”
