Serbia is declining: the birth rate is low, young people are leaving their homeland en masse. World Bank forecasts state that in 25 years, out of the seven million Serbs, only 5.4 million will remain. And there is nothing to suggest that this trend can be reversed. At the head of Serbia is a president who does not tolerate dissent - Aleksandar Vucic. This president's country is without hope and without a future, writes Ulrich Ladurner in the weekly "Die Zeit".
But all this was only in effect until November 1, 2024, the German publication continues. On that day, the canopy of the Novi Sad train station collapsed, killing 15 people, and the accident sparked a wave of protests that continues to this day. The protests gradually spread throughout the country and are changing its appearance and identity - the outlines of a different, better Serbia are increasingly taking shape, writes “Die Zeit“.
"Serbian Spring"
There were also protests by Serbs in other places. The Swiss “Wohnzeitung“ called the events “Serbian Spring“ and reported that Serbs in Switzerland, who number about 60,000, have also formed a protest movement in a number of cities – and there were demonstrations demanding change in Serbia.
Some of the slogans of the Serbian protesters in Switzerland were quoted: “Vučić, this is not a color revolution – your hands are colored, they are red!“ or “Everything will fall apart with the help of Laura Kövesi!“ (the new EU chief prosecutor – ed.). “Students have had enough of corruption in Serbia”, student Miloš Ivanović told the publication. He was born in Zurich, but feels closely connected to the country his parents left. “It's not about one person – "It's about the whole system," says Ivanovic.
No one expected anything like this from the students and pupils who are the main driving force behind the process of change in Serbia, Die Zeit noted, arguing as follows: "They were considered apathetic, apolitical, and guild-minded. But they suddenly took to the streets and attracted thousands of others - as was seen during the largest demonstration in Belgrade on Saturday. Over 300,000 people took part in it - that is, almost five percent of Serbs. And the main message was: "We came out because we want to live in a normal country, in a country where the police and justice do their job." They demanded that those responsible for the tragedy in Novi Sad be found and punished - because corruption kills.
Unresolved problems that destabilize the Balkans
„Die Zeit“ notes that the wars of the 1990s still paralyze society like poison, and the ideas of that time - for example, about „Greater Serbia“ - are alive and more dangerous than ever. The German publication believes that these ideas can still destabilize the Balkans. The conflict between Serbia and Kosovo remains unresolved, in Bosnia and Herzegovina the leader of the Bosnian Serbs is striving for the secession of this part of the country - that is, Vucic has a number of destructive trump cards that he can play.
When he made threats to students at the beginning of the protests, many Serbs worried that violence could also be used against young people in Serbia itself. That the war would reach their home and their children would be under threat. They instinctively felt that they had to protect themselves from the danger emanating from the government and began to provide all possible assistance to the students, writes “Die Zeit“.
Vučić must have been quite confused
The German publication recalls that Vučić had offered the protesters to talk to him because he could find a solution to the conflict. But the students did something smarter and unexpected: they ignored the president. And they said that they wanted the rule of law mechanism to finally get going and work cleanly, reliably and transparently. For which they did not need the president. This must have greatly confused Vučić, since he is used to everything depending on him and expects everyone who has a problem to fall at his feet and beg for mercy. But the students have no official leader, so the president cannot implement his tried-and-true strategy – to discredit, destroy, or corrupt opposition leaders. The students simply ignore him. Vucic? Who was he? In this way, they were achieving something great: showing all Serbs what life could be like without Vucic’s omnipresent presence.
That's why the students enjoy such broad support, and that's why everything went smoothly at the giant demonstration in Belgrade, despite Vučić having prepared agitators of thugs ready for violence, Die Zeit points out. Thus, Vučić survived the largest protest demonstration in the country's history, but the students neither wanted nor expected him to resign. He remains in office, but the country he thought he had firmly in his hands is about to slip away. In Serbia, they are starting to heal the wounds inflicted on society by war, nationalism, poverty and humiliation. Nothing is the same anymore, an elderly lady who joined the youth told the German publication. “Today we are different!“.