How will the mass protests in Serbia pan out?
More than 100,000 demonstrators marched against corruption under President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade on Saturday. Observers talk of this being the biggest popular rally since the fall of Slobodan Milošević 25 years ago. The months-long unrest was triggered by the fatal collapse of a roof at Novi Sad train station, which has been blamed on shoddy construction and cronyism. Europe's press chimes in.
A country waking up from its apathy
Népszava sees signs of a new democratic beginning:
“Many Belgrade residents welcomed the young people with tears and euphoria. As the mother of a victim of last November's Novi Sad railway station tragedy said, the young people have united Serbia with their marvellous performance. This is not quite true yet because many pensioners are so infected by the government media that they would rather disown their own grandchildren than Vučić, but the majority of society has woken up and the many years of apathy have come to an end. ... The young demonstrators might actually succeed in building a just, democratic society.”
Fear of Vučić has faded
The president is at his wit's end, writes Dnevnik:
“The fear of Vučić and his SNS party, in which a group of people have supposedly sworn with blood to protect their president to the bitter end, has faded in Serbian society. ... Faced with the protesting students, who not only want the country to function properly and not be riddled with clientelism and corruption, but also to be led by people with integrity, Vučić can no longer fall back on the tales from his handbook on how autocrats can stay in power. The tactics described therein, including fear-mongering and attempts to divide, simply no longer work.”
What comes next then?
Experience has taught the Bulgarians that political change in a Balkan country is no guarantee of an end to corruption and nepotism, editor-in-chief Viktor Blaskov points out in Trud:
“In 2013 we were admired for staging mass protests. The crucial thing, however, is what happens after the protests. We find it difficult to channel the energy, and then allow it to be exploited by incompetent politicians because we can't monitor whether they are behaving correctly. Don't get me wrong: the protests are commendable. But they're only half the battle. We fail miserably when it comes to the remaining fifty percent.”
Ball now in Vučić's court
Vreme sees the recent protests as a bitter defeat for the president:
“All the while, Vučić is behaving spitefully and provocatively as he tries to put out fires with petrol. On the topic of a transitional government or a government of experts – the only way to end the crisis – he repeated that it would only happen over his dead body. Nobody wants him dead. On the contrary, the citizens say they want peaceful change and fair elections. ... What now? In sporting terms, the ball is now in Vučić's court. The 15 March protest is a serious political defeat for him. Can he accept it and thus, at least in part, help to calm tempers and start out on the path out of the crisis?”
A school of democracy from the bottom up
Commenting in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, historian Armina Galijaš sees the protests as a social experiment:
“The protesters' banners bring a smile to the faces of onlookers and break taboos: 'All we need is law', they say, or 'Next year in prison', an allusion to the nationalist song 'Next year in Prizren' (Kosovo). The students are working to repair Serbia and its maltreated society. They are showing people that there is a different way. A social experiment has taken place in Serbia over the past four months. A collective learning process has been set in motion. A school of democracy from the bottom up is being rehearsed – a biographical experience that will leave its mark on hundreds of thousands of young people.”
Step up the demands
The protests will fall short of their goal as long as the main demand remains an investigation into the fatal collapse of a newly renovated train station roof, Telegram is sure:
“The students have not explicitly defined the overthrow of Aleksandar Vučić as their primary and ultimate goal. Which is strategically wrong. You can't overthrow a dictator of many years because of a single, seriously corrupt element of his dictatorship. You have to topple him as such if you really want to topple him. ... As long as the students don't make it clear that they won't stop protesting until Vučić is ousted and disappears from politics, protests like that on Saturday will remain nothing but a powerful demonstration of benevolent political will, but without operational results.”
Don't fall for the autocrat's tricks
The EU should support the student democracy movement, Der Standard insists:
“Here, too, the autocrat Aleksandar Vučić will just wait for things to blow over if the students don't make more political demands - such as insisting on a transitional government and the removal of the heads of the judiciary and state television who make sure that the ruling Serbian Progressive Party can keep everything under wraps and obstruct the separation of powers. ... The demands made so far will not lead to any significant changes. European governments could also contribute to Serbia's democratisation if they'd only stop falling for the autocrat's attempts at manipulation and block EU funds for Serbia.”
No wonder there are no EU flags
taz criticises the lack of European pressure on the government in Belgrade:
“Instead of voicing criticism, European politicians courted Vučić: Olaf Scholz secured lithium for the German car industry, Emmanuel Macron sold fighter jets, Ursula von der Leyen praised Serbia's EU course and Markus Söder accepted a medal from Vučić. Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) also remains part of the CDU and CSU political family. Given this boost for the Vučić system, it's hardly surprising that there are no EU flags to be seen at the protests.”