Commemoration in Novi Sad: what's at stake?
One year after the fatal collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station, tens of thousands of Serbs gathered there on Saturday to commemorate the 16 victims. At 11:52 a.m., the time of the accident, participants observed 16 minutes of silence. The tragedy on 1 November 2024 triggered a wave of mass protests against the Vučić government.
Neither backwards nor forwards
President Vučić is clinging to power - successfully for the time being, Večernji list concludes:
“The students have caused a flash flood that is engulfing the country. ... But nothing has ended yet, not even Vučić's regime. People expected a violent overthrow, the dictator's resignation, there were threats about civil war, but none of this has happened, not even new elections, which the dictator doesn't want to call because he wouldn't win them even with the help of his mafia structures and the criminal state apparatus. Serbia continues to live in a miserable atmosphere of political uncertainty. There is no going back, but progress is also slow in coming.”
Nationalist mentality setting the tone
The protests against the Serbian government lack a clear commitment to European values, Jutarnji list notes:
“Although some of the students and demonstrators undoubtedly want a European Serbia, this is not the main motivation of the opponents of Vučić's regime. At the protests against Vučić, speakers called for the 'return of Kosovo and Metohija', accused the West and invoked the 'Serbian world'. ... After 365 days, there are still no EU flags at these demonstrations or signs of a change in the nationalist policy that Serbia has been obsessed with since Slobodan Milošević took office. There are many indications that the demonstrators in Serbia want to change everything, but in such a way that everything stays the same.”
Numbers are irrelevant
The obsession with the number of demonstrators at the last commemorative demonstration in Serbia completely misses the point, says Vreme:
“A large, powerful gathering. At such an event even silence is impressive. And when people spoke, everything was said. After that, they went home. But the social networks and most of the media are focusing on the wrong thing: how many people turned up? Was it a lot or just a few? ... Numbers are no longer that important. The struggle, triggered by death under concrete, has long since entered a new phase: that of new elections, in which the students want to have their own ticket.”
Vučić too categorical
The pro-Kremlin daily Izvestia criticises the Serbian leadership for its lack of flexibility in dealing with the protests:
“It's not surprising that the protests are not subsiding. The reason is that the authorities and the president himself have failed to find the right approach vis-à-vis the demonstrators. The government believes that the protests are being organised exclusively by external forces seeking to instigate a colour revolution in Serbia. Aleksandar Vučić has repeatedly emphasised that the situation in the country is reminiscent of the 2014 Maidan in Ukraine and has sworn that he won't allow such a scenario to unfold. It seems that this approach is where the authorities' main mistake lies: they're far too categorical.”
Make EU funds conditional on reform
Europe must stop turning a blind eye, Der Spiegel argues:
“Serbia's students are fighting for democracy, the rule of law and political pluralism. If Europe is serious about Serbia's accession prospects, it must support the students' demands instead of courting Vučić because of Serbia's lithium reserves or fears that he will bring the country even closer to Russia. ... Europe can put concrete pressure on Vučić to listen to the demonstrators' pro-democracy calls. This can be done with clear conditions: funds, loans and trade advantages only in return for verifiable reforms and compliance with democratic principles.”