Serbian students are ending the criminal regime
By Marija Jakovljević, a young Serbian feminist.
Serbian young feminist and Purposeful/Global Resilience Fund Advisor, Marija Jakovljević shares how, despite violent repression, students have sparked a movement against corruption, and are mobilising across the country.
Tectonic shifts are taking place in Serbia
During the global conundrum of halted international funding and support, Serbian students are demonstrating the power of organising, free of any ties and foreign interference.
A student-led public-sourced movement, fighting corruption and power abuse by ruling structures in Serbia, puts back in their places both domestic and international actors while uplifting democracy in a way never seen before. Students say to Serbian institutions “Do your job!”.
In their systemic analysis of the current events and need for change, they are also indirectly sending a message to the international community that Serbia will not be anyone’s playground anymore.
From death to a country’s rebirth
On 1 November 2024, a reconstructed awning at the Novi Sad train station collapsed and killed 15 people, and injured many more. It was a culmination of corruption-caused death and harm, and students started to demand accountability and legal prosecution of those responsible.
The government tried to ignore demands and spin out the situation.
Students started occupying their faculties, refusing to continue with regular life until justice be served. The regime’s hooligans started violently attacking students, resulting in further public outrage and sparking massive public support. People started to bring supplies to students to sustain their blockades. Fifteen minute vigils for 15 killed people started to take place in the streets at the time of the awning collapse, halting daily "life as usual" and calling for public pressure on those in charge to follow the law and bring justice. Massive protests in Novi Sad and Belgrade were organised by students, leading to the awakening of the whole country and people of all generations and backgrounds showing up in solidarity even in places traditionally controlled by the ruling party.
The government responded with violence, sending hooligans and the regime’s puppets to attack students with cars and handheld weapons. At least three girls were heavily hit by cars driven by regime supporters, generating massive outrage. Even animals were being killed. A street dog named Dona was run over during the protest by the vehicle of Clinical Center Novi Sad, provoking even greater public rage. As a threat to one of the youth groups whose logo is a mask of a white rabbit, a white rabbit was hung on a school fence in Novi Sad, making people shocked by the level of cruelty.
Students invited the public to block the thoroughfare in Belgrade for 24 hours and the public responded, including agricultural producers with tractors, followed by bikers, coming to protect students from the attacks of the regime's puppets. This is an unprecedented level of solidarity in a society historically broken by wars, criminal, privatisation, corruption and social divides. Students generated hope and admiration for the youth-led organising, after a long period of apathy and previous protesting with limited results. Workers in education, culture, health, energy production, and many other fields supported students.
As students' demands were not met, they walked from the capital city Belgrade to Novi Sad, a city where tragedy happened. On the way, residents of smaller cities greeted them with traditional hospitality, bringing homemade food and arranging places to sleep. An elderly man in his field bowed down in front of the students and they responded by chanting "We love you, grandpa”. Pensioners waved at students from their windows. Elderly people with disabilities came in front of their buildings to greet the students. For days the whole nation has been moved to tears witnessing this mutual care and solidarity.
It’s a catharsis. Students being greeted as liberators of the country held by criminals. What seemed unbelievable has been unfolding in front of our eyes - a new uncorrupted democratically self-organised force led by young people healing Serbian society and bringing those responsible to justice.
Picture from @svice.rs.
How is this possible?
It took us 13 years of this party’s unlawful rule and 16 years from the first student blockade to come to this point.
Current protests are the culmination of years of resisting all forms of human and environmental rights violations, corruption and government abuse of power. The people of Serbia have used all democratic means at their disposal to protect their rights and land and claim justice, but the corrupted government stays immune, due to its support from the EU, Russia, and China, with close ties to Israel. Elections are continuously being stolen, and people have been protesting for years.
Examples include a large-scale protest after the first school shooting in Serbia, in which eight girls, one boy, and a schoolkeeper were killed by a 13-year-old boy, where people took to the streets asking for justice and answers as to how that could have happened.
On another front, for years people have been resisting Rio Tinto lithium mining in Serbia, needed for the EU's "green transition" and the German car industry. This will pollute our land, destroy agriculture, and cause inescapable health disasters. There are also Chinese and Canadian mining companies destroying the ecosystem of other parts of Serbia.
Finally, all these interconnected struggles generated massive mobilisation and collaboration and culminated in current protests across the country. All this and other crimes against the public good have mobilised people who have usually remained quiet and helpless in front of an authoritarian regime. This regime stems from the war-mongers and war profiteers from the nineties, has a close connection with the mafia, and holds a grasp over the right-wing hooligans and neo-nazi groups.
Student blockades turned out to be an effective means of organising, but it took us time to come to this point. The first student blockade happened in 2006, calling for better higher education and social and economic justice. In the beginning, this was not widely recognised as a legitimate and effective way of organising. However, Gen Z has demonstrated that direct democracy through students' plenums and autonomous organising offers much-needed distance from distrusted politicians and gives power to young people to lead the changes.
It builds on the forgotten history of Yugoslav self-governance, where people were in charge of their living and working places, directly participating in decision-making and self-organising, resourced through what was called self-contributions. This meant using the resources we had: our ideas, our knowledge, our labour, and our money. We are the ones in charge of our lives and our future. Students are reminding us of this.
Where does this put the international community, philanthropy, and civic society?
Despite the government's accusations that students and their supporters are instructed and paid from abroad, that cannot be further from the truth. The student movement is very clear in not allowing any interference from political parties and NGOs. What makes the student-led protests unique is that they are truly youth-led and deeply respected as such, decentralised, without leaders, and organised around democratic principles.
This goes against everything the philanthropic world would expect in terms of requests and developments. Such positionality of students as a driving force of change also shifts the role of all stakeholders, including the international community. There is no dependency on any foreign force. There is true autonomy in organising. This gives not just hope, but also a blueprint for dealing with harmful governments in general.
What should the sector do?
The people of Serbia do not want international interference, or a "shopping list" of foreign aid support. We do not want solutions we haven’t asked for, and we also don’t want those who have been historically involved with ruling structures to be resourced when they change sides.
We want international attention and mindful support:
Keep eyes on Serbia
Monitor violations of human rights
Circulate truthful information about what is happening in Serbia (like Madonna did 😊)
Express solidarity with the student movement
Put pressure on your governments and international institutions to condemn the violence of the ruling party and to withdraw their support to the illegitimate Serbian government
Discuss with progressive civil society what support is needed for the country's rebuilding
Respect local people
Uphold the autonomy of local stakeholders
Most importantly, learn from and follow the lead of the student movement.