Protests have been ongoing in Serbia for months. Blockades for days, and arrests of demonstrators for weeks. However, those who attack protesters mostly go unpunished. The government has lost all legitimacy, a sentiment echoed even by prominent Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin. Some analysts argue that change in Serbia is impossible. The country is simmering, and new elections are being demanded.
Anyone who has watched episodes of the PERSPEKTIVA series from 2022 can clearly see how long Serbia has been building toward the wave of mass protests against the regime that we are witnessing today. All the statements below were recorded in Belgrade in 2022. Ana and Andrej believed change was possible even then.
“Change is possible in Serbia. It happens every day. I’d be surprised if things stayed the same forever, that would be against every natural law. Change is possible because we as a society are ever-changing. We’ve evolved a lot in the last few decades. The only question is: will it be for better or worse?”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-mladi-srbija/31689836.html
“No change has ever happened without the involvement of a large number of people. And it is precisely because of, I wouldn’t want to point the finger at anyone, but because of people who bow down to the smallest problem that we are where we are right now.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-mladi-srbija/31689836.html
In 2022, while the pandemic still kept people behind masks, Belgrade’s youth said that they felt as if they were under occupation. Ana and Aleksandar spoke about this, while Andrijana pointed out the stranglehold of state-controlled media.
“We are under occupation. This regime is occupying all of us. Not only the young and the old, but everyone. All those who are against the regime are traitors, enemies, and that is a big problem. And for this reason, we should not leave our apartment, that is, our homes, and stay to fight, to drive the occupier out of here.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsgWX2f7VEE&ab_channel=RadioSlobodnaEvropa
“We are all here because we are revolted; we have no one to turn to. We came here to turn to someone, so maybe someone would hear us. We are fighting a battle, especially here in Serbia, I don’t know how it is on the other side of the Drina river, with auto-chauvinists and auto-chauvinism. That is something that is forced on us. That epithet is not pleasant at all, but no one knows what it means. If I go public and say Ratko Mladić is a criminal, he undeniably committed a crime, in that case, the Serbian people will stand behind Ratko Mladić and identify with him. And that is what bothers me.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsgWX2f7VEE&ab_channel=RadioSlobodnaEvropa
“How to get media space when everything is under control, when we can’t get a word in becaue of Mr. Vučić. People joke he’s everywhere—’even in your fridge.’ But seriously, how do we reach the older generation who follow only state-run media? We want to talk to them, but they won’t even give us the chance. Everything’s politicized, everything’s centralized in Belgrade – that’s the reality.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-mladi-srbija/31689836.html
Anyone who speaks out against the government is quickly branded a foreign agent. It’s worth remembering: these same labels were used three years ago. Aleksandar confirms this, and Polina spoke about the crisis of trust.
“This government labels anyone who dares to speak out as a foreign mercenary.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-mladi-srbija/31726389.html
“Young people don’t trust institutions. And for them to stay in Serbia, the institutions need to earn that trust. They need to give young people a reason to believe in them.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya5rmnkaQgM&ab_channel=RadioSlobodnaEvropa
What next? Students and citizens are not giving up this time. Fewer and fewer people, as Alisa said in 2022, are willing to live in a cocoon and ignore what’s happening around them.
“Life in Belgrade can seem tolerable – if you live in a bubble. You leave one cocoon – your apartment – to get into another – your car. Then you eat in a third cocoon – a restaurant – and go to work in yet another. This whole cycle can go on with zero contact with what this city really carries: its history, and everything that is buried beneath the things that don’t belong here.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-mladi-srbija/31689836.html
At the same time, more and more high school students, university students, and ordinary citizens are taking to the streets in Belgrade and beyond. Jelena from Belgrade said the following three years ago:
“As a young person, I feel I have a duty to stay here and fight for some justice in this country, however and as much as I can.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-mladi-srbija/31689836.html
Today, young people in Serbia are saying that change is possible. But as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted: “Inspiring democratic experiments do not necessarily lead to change.” Mobilizing 300,000 people for a protest is powerful. But, if a political alternative does not emerge from it, in the long term, it means nothing. That is precisely why change can only truly come through democratic means: elections and political parties. For now, no organized political alternative has emerged in Serbia, and it remains uncertain how far this wave of civic awakening will go.
