Guy de Rosie
BBC Vulcan correspondent
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As Serbia’s anti-corruption protests enter the ninth month, they show no indication that they will fade, instead changing leadership, composition and tactics.
At the climax of a powerful protest of 140,000 people last weekend in Belgrade’s Slaviha Square, students who have led the protests since November declared that they are no longer at the forefront of the rally.
They had set a Saturday deadline to seek new elections for the government.
When it was not satisfied, they invited other groups to take on the mantle of protest, calling for a campaign of “civil disobedience” from President Alexander Whetchick and those opposed to his longtime progressive party (SNS) leadership.
The obstacles have since appeared in Serbian cities this week, with people deploying dustbins, chairs and other improvisational barriers to block junctions in major cities, including Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niss. The association of local residents known as “civic gatherings” is deeply involved.
As soon as police dismantle one lockdown, another lockdown pops out somewhere.
Police crackdowns spark backlash
Recently, dozens of arrests have been arrested, along with excessive police complaints. Many students were treated at hospitals after Gender Mary members entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade on Wednesday.
Officers also arrested the high school student and sparked a protest by parents in front of the central Belgrade police station until the child was released.
A striking voice denounces police conduct. The complaints by the Journalist Association and the Opposition Centre Party coincided with statements from the Bar Association and the Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church Grigorier Duric. The EU, in some parts, denounced “acts of hatred and violence,” and called for calm.
Meanwhile, in Belgrade, the pop-up obstacles continue. There is also a confusion of travel for commuters.
One resident realized she had to walk 5km (3 miles) in and out of work, explaining the feeling of a string of street parties rather than protest.
However, many observers doubt that this approach is more effective than a few months of assembly, faculty lockdowns and half-baked general strikes.
Novi’s sad railway disaster in 2024
The protests began with a relatively simple purpose. This is to ensure accountability for the disaster at Novi Sad railway station last November when a concrete canopy at Serbia’s second-largest city collapsed, killing 16 people standing beneath it.
The pouring of sadness was instantaneous, and the anger continued quickly.
Much of this is directed at President Vucic.
Most Serbs have long been unsettled by his “strongman” style leadership since coming to power in 2012. But others embraced his party’s firm grip on many of the state institutions and media as a trade-off between strong economic growth and improvement in infrastructure.
The station’s disaster shattered that tacit agreement.
“We’re all under the canopy” was one of the slogans that are often seen on banners at the beginning of the protest. Others included “blood in your hands” and “murder on the rot.”
College students demonstrated leadership in the movement and called for complete transparency in the prosecution of train station projects and disaster directors.
A few months of protests were ultimately forced to resign as prime minister of Milos Vsevic. However, he was simply replaced by another VUCIC appointee, Djuro Macut. Otherwise, the protest movement has been achieved in terms of concrete results.
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Broken windows in Novi Sad’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) office during this week’s protest.
There is no end for protest movements
Still, the protests now bring hundreds of thousands of people to the streets and promote a large part of society.
One opposition leader, Srdjan Milivojevic, the central left Democrat of Srdjan Milivojevic, compared the moment to the early 2000s.
The coalition of interest groups has since been withstanding Milosevic’s attempts to manipulate the outcome of the September 2000 presidential election. The massive protest forced the president to resign the following month, leading to the first democracy in Serbia.
However, despite efforts to evoke the “spirit of October 5th”, the current situation is different. President Vucic and his party are in a relatively comfortable position, with votes showing that social media is the most popular party.
In the aftermath of the last large student-led rally, Vucic declared that “Serbia has won” in the face of an attempt to “overthrow the nation.”
People blocking roads in Serbia cities see it differently. They are seeking changes through the ballot box – even if it’s not clear who will run against social media. The president has also argued that no elections will take place by December next year.
So now, it’s probably the first problem that either side will blink. And since the temperature has already been pushed to 40c, it could be a summer when it boils in one or more ways.
