Student protests against corruption are developing in Serbia, but EU institutions, for which the Vučić regime is considered a key partner in the Balkans, has so far abstained to express its support for demonstrators.
Thursday morning, 500 Serbian students left on foot from Belgrade under the slogan “One Step for Justice”. After an 80 -kilometer walk, they reached Novi Sad to reach the blockade of three Saturday bridges on the Danube.
This comes in the middle of an unprecedented wave of demonstrations, with growing calls to strikes and farmers joining the movement, after the roof of the station in the main Serbian city in the north of Novi Sad – a key stop on the future Belgrade -Budapest at high speed at high speed at high speed, in the center of the belt and road infrastructure project in China – collapsed three months ago.
The collapse, which followed a renovation of 55 million euros by a Chinese company announced with a great pump of President Aleksandar Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, killed 15 people, which prompted thousands of people to Stop any activity since the incident at 11:52 am – The time of the disaster – and observe 15 minutes of silence in honor of the 15 victims.
The country has not seen such a mobilization since the fall of former Serbian president Slobodan Milošević in 2000, according to the demonstrators, who denounce the corruption of the government and require the complete disclosure of documents related to the construction of the station, as that the criminal proceedings of these people responsible for the disaster.
“We have no political request and keep our distance from the opposition parties,” said Milica Dokmanović, a student at the University of Novi Sad.
“We simply ask that Serbian institutions work in the interest of citizens.”
President Aleksandar Vučić, the highly authoritarian figure that has governed Serbia with an iron handle since 2012 and maintains close control over the country’s media, has so far eliminated any significant protest movement.
After initially accused the students of being funded by the West and tried to intimidate them, he finally decided to sacrifice his Prime Minister, Miloš Vučević, who announced his resignation on January 28.
“The difference between these demonstrations and the previous ones is that this time, people who are never used to expressing themselves have come up in the streets,” said Naim Leo Beširi, director of the Institute of European Affairs Belgrade.
Embarrassing silence of Brussels
As Vučić considers the possibility of first elections to resolve the crisis, the Serbian president can at least comfort himself in the silence of EU institutions, in particular the European Commission.
While the president of the Ursula von der Leyen commission did not hesitate to express their support for the “the Georgian people who fight for democracy”, she remained remarkably silent on the uprising in Serbia – a country which is officially candidate to EU membership since 2012.
During a recent visit to Belgrade, Gert Jan Koopman, the director general of the EU for neighborhood and enlargement negotiations (DG near), simply noted the “regular progress” from Serbia to the EU.
However, the Commission’s stage report explicitly indicates that the Serbian authorities must intensify their efforts to combat corruption, ensure the independence of the judiciary and guarantee freedom of expression.
“Commission officials describe a reality that does not exist in Serbia. The Serbian authorities do not respect the rule of law or the fundamental principles of democracy,” said Srđan Cvijić, president of the Belgrade Center for Security Policy.
“If the demonstrators do not act European flags, it is because the EU is considered an ally of the government,” added Cvijić.
Mutual interests at stake
Serbia occupies a central geopolitical position in the Balkans and is crucial for regional stability, especially since negotiations with Kosovo on “normalization of relations” continue theoretically.
Although Belgrade condemned Ukraine’s invasion by Russia in 2022, the Serbian government has never aligned itself with EU sanctions against Moscow.
“European leaders fear that if they criticize Vučić, he turns to Russia and will continue to open his country to Chinese companies,” added Cvijić.
“This is, of course, an error, because Moscow’s ability to influence Serbia is very limited, and Belgrade leads the vast majority of its economic exchanges with the EU,” he added.
Located at the crossroads of transport networks in southeast Europe, Serbia is also a key partner in the management of thousands of migrants who try to reach the EU each year. In June 2024, Belgrade signed an agreement with the EU allowing the deployment of the EU Frontex border agency, along the borders of Serbia with Bosnia and Herzegovina and northern Macedonia.
Serbia also has interest resources for European countries, in particular Germany and its automotive industry.
On June 19, Chancellor Olaf Scholz went to Belgrade to attend the signing of a “memorandum on critical raw materials” aimed at relaunching a large mining project in lithium – despite strong opposition from local communities.
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