site.btaHave Protesting Students Stepped into Leading Role on Serbia's Political Scene?

Six months after the tragic incident in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, where a collapse of the renovated railway station's canopy killed 16 people and sparked a wave of social discontent across the country, the power holders and the opposition are asking themselves whether protesting students have a new role in politics and how likely they are to make it a leading one.

The students of the blockade, which have been protesting for five months now, used the social network X for the first time, following the example of world political leaders, and on the evening of May 5 they announced that they wanted Serbia's Parliament to be dissolved immediately and early parliamentary elections to be held as required by the Constitution.

"We believe that democracy is the only correct way to resolve a political crisis of this magnitude," the students wrote on X less than a month after Parliament elected a new government with a non-party prime minister, but with the mandate of the Serbian Progressive Party. The formation is headed by now former prime minister Milos Vucevic, who resigned under pressure from the protests.

The same message was published a short time later on Instagram, on the account Studenti_u_blokadi [Students of the Blockade], which has become a traditional information channel where for the last half a year, students have been posting statements and informing citizens and authorities about their upcoming actions.

Sanja Borisovic, a second-year student at the University of Belgrade, supports the demand for early elections and told BTA that she is not surprised that students are using the social network X for the first time. "We are changing, we are looking for our new role, but let me explain how we got here. We first blocked our faculties, we were supported by a large number of professors, first unofficially, then officially, and you can see that now the entire Council of Rectors of the University of Belgrade is behind us!", Borisovic told BTA.

"But we have seen that the Government does not listen to us and does not understand us," the student added, recalling that she and her fellow students have often been ridiculed by the incumbents, that they have been described as "paid agents of foreign countries", including by President Aleksandar Vucic.

Borisovic stressed that the students would not be running for MPs, but would support a list of candidates who have not been part of Serbia's political elite before, and that a mechanism is currently being worked out for nominations for the MP candidates.

Initially, the students from the blockade demanded the implementation of four demands and stressed that their protests were peaceful and not politically motivated. They repeatedly rejected attempts and suggestions by political parties to join their actions and radicalise the protests. 

As part of the protests, students blockaded around 60 faculties across the country. According to the protesters, the tragedy in Novi Sad of November 1, 2024 occurred because of corrupt practices that led to poor-quality repairs at the station.They want political and criminal responsibility for what happened to be taken, they demand that corruption be fought, and that institutions work without political pressure and influence.

The first demand for early parliamentary elections in Serbia came on April 25 from the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, where the protesting students took a decision by voting in a plenum (a general assembly of all students).

Then the Serbian President commented that the authorities should investigate how the vote was conducted.

A few days later, police in Novi Sad used batons and tear gas for the first time against students who were protesting outside the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education and who tried to prevent Dean Patrick Dryd from passing their blockade. 

The students' call for early parliamentary elections was rejected by the Government and partially supported by the opposition in Serbia.

But it is becoming clear to all those involved in the political life of the country that the street is a public arena that is no longer big enough to carry out the ideas of angry young people determined not to surrender.

"The fight continues!", "It's over when we say it's over!" are some of the slogans the protesting students raise periodically.

Rasa Nedeljkov, the Programme Director of the CRTA nongovernmental organization, told the Fonet news agency on Wednesday that the conditions for early parliamentary elections would be difficult, but that it was "a fight that is inevitable." Although the conditions for elections may not have changed, there are now united citizens who believe in the rule of law, laws and regulations and who are ready to defend them uncompromisingly, Nedelkov believes.