adam zivo: serbia is roaring for revolution
national support for student protesters, who are now demanding new elections, has hovered above 60 per cent
4 minute read
a protester displays a sign condemning attacks on students, women and children during an anti-government demonstration at a belgrade intersection on march 22, 2025.
adam zivo / national post
belgrade, serbia — in serbia, revolution is in the air. the streets of belgrade roar each evening as citizens whistle and honk in support of a student protest movement that has, for months, demonstrated against corruption and authoritarianism. hundreds of thousands of serbs have marched alongside these students, despite threats of violence, bolstering the greatest wave of civil unrest seen within the country in nearly three decades.
almost every day now, anti-government protesters joyfully blockade intersections and bridges throughout the country. graffiti and stickers disparaging president aleksandar vučić and his serbian progressive party (sns) are ubiquitous in the capital, reflecting popular disgust with their kleptocratic rule and alleged mafioso connections.
these protests began in november after the concrete canopy of the main railway station in novi sad, serbia’s second-largest city, collapsed and killed 16 people. the station had only reopened a few months earlier, after undergoing years of renovations by a consortium of chinese companies, and was supposed to be a node in a new high-speed rail line that will eventually connect budapest to athens (one of beijing’s new belt and road projects).
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following the tragedy, concerns were immediately raised around the quality of the renovation work, the opacity of the procurement process and the possibility that construction funds had been embezzled. although vučić vowed justice, key documents relating to the project were withheld from the public and political repercussions remained minimal.
faced with government inaction, university students throughout serbia immediately began organizing vigils, protests and blockades. their demands were simple: accountability for the victims of novi sad and an end to the corruption that has been asphyxiating the country for decades.
anticipating that the government would demonize them, the students committed to being peaceful, non-partisan and orderly. they diligently cleaned up after themselves and habitually dispersed at the first signs of violence. to ensure that vučić could not sabotage their movement by targeting specific individuals, they decided from the outset that they would have no leaders — decisions were made democratically, in regular plenums, and public spokespersons were frequently rotated.
in the first weeks of this nascent movement, the student protesters and their supporters were repeatedly attacked by organized thugs (allegedly government agents) and, in a few cases, run down by cars that some have alleged were driven by individuals affiliated with vučić’s party. yet these attacks only outraged the public and further galvanized the students, who demanded an investigation into the perpetrators.
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by mid-december, over 100,000 serbs attended a mass demonstration in belgrade (the largest in the country’s history at that point), while more than 50 university faculties shut down amid persistent unrest and blockades.
the situation only intensified in the new year, as blockades proliferated. critically, starting in late january, thousands of students began traversing the country on foot to demonstrate at several major cities. these pilgrimages, which sometimes covered hundreds of kilometres, earned them the respect of rural serbians, who often greeted the youth with food and free accommodations.
anti-government protesters pause in a moment of silence while blocking an intersection in downtown belgrade on march 22, 2025.
adam zivo / national post
the movement reached its most recent crescendo on march 15, when roughly 300,000 protesters (4.5 per cent of the country’s population) gathered in belgrade. although the government shut down the national railways, citing a “bomb threat,” attendees arrived by car, bus, moped and bicycle (thousands of students simply walked).
masked men threw firecrackers into the crowd, and a large group of thugs, some wielding knives, attempted to attack the protesters, but were repelled by a cordon of pro-student veterans and biker gangs. shortly afterwards, the government used a prohibited “sound canon” (which uses low-frequency waves to induce nausea and headaches) upon protesters who were observing a moment of silence, causing them to flee in panic.
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activists i’ve interviewed in belgrade over the past week believe that vučić’s goal is to incite riots, so that he can declare martial law and discredit the protesters.
the government has also apparently set up a parallel pro-regime student movement, dubbed “students 2.0,” demanding an end to demonstrations and the resumption of classes. this movement has established an encampment in downtown belgrade with significant police protection.
however, a group of student activists infiltrated the encampment and filmed a short documentary, which was released earlier this week, exposing what many already suspected: the site is sparsely populated and includes many older individuals who are obviously not students, some of whom appear to be delinquents or criminals.
faced with immense political pressure, vučić has resorted to smearing the protesters as drug addicts, rich brats and puppets of western intelligence agencies who are fomenting a “colour revolution.” this messaging has been heavily amplified by state-controlled and regime-friendly media channels in serbia, who otherwise generally ignore the demonstrations.
after the serbian progressive party came into power in 2012, vučić drove independent news outlets off the air by essentially banning them from publicly owned television broadcasters. although many serbians have learned to get their news online and from social media, less tech-savvy citizens only have access to regime propaganda.
after the serbian progressive party came into power in 2012, vučić drove independent news outlets off the air by essentially banning them from publicly owned television broadcasters. although many serbians have learned to get their news online and from social media, less tech-savvy citizens only have access to regime propaganda.
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despite widespread media censorship, polling data gathered by the center for research, transparency and accountability suggests that, between december and february, national support for the protesters has hovered above 60 per cent. the protesters are now demanding new elections, which they hope will be overseen by an interim government of non-partisan technocrats.
vučić has sworn on his life that there will be no transitional government. with how things are developing, perhaps that was an unwise thing for him to say.
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