«For months now the Serbs have taken the square in protests of protests led by university students, so much so that here they call them” students’ protests “. The extraordinary thing is that these are peaceful events And very well organized by the students who are showing themselves really brave and capable: my family and I participated in the last three and I must say that it has always been a wonderful experience. But what amazes me is that, despite the exceptional dimensions of the events, the international media coverage is very little. Even in Italy almost nobody talks about it. The habit and the incorrectness of the government have long been known to the international community, but a press silence has been imposed that is leaving the Serbs alone in this epochal challenge ».
Reflection – as well as appeal – has come to Christian family from Paolo M., 50 -year -old Italian, entrepreneur, residing in Belgrade For many years, married to a child. He prefers to remain in anonymity because, he explains, foreigners are now very careful in Serbia. “The climate is tense,” says Paolo, reached on the phone, “and there is a lot of nervousness in the government”. The drop that made the vase overflow and unleashed anger and protest was the accident of 1 November 2024, in Novi Sad, Second city of Serbia, where the canopy of the concrete railway station, recently restored, collapsed killing 16 people. In the aftermath of that tragedy, many Serbs starting from the students began to gather in the squares to protest against the management of power by the ruling class.
“For several years now,” says Paolo, “The Serbs suffer the harassment of a government that is accused of corruption and violation of human rights”. President Aleksander Vucic is accused of authoritarian drift and manipulation of the means of communication, which he knows and uses very well, having been a reporter during the war in Bosnia and having then held the role of Minister of Information. «Once elected for the first time president in 2017Vucic has been able to consolidate his personal power well and quickly, starting with what he knew how to do: the management of information. And has concentrated in his hands an almost absolute power, playing on two fronts: on the internal one, at a certain point in the elections The irregularities began, which have become increasingly heavy, They are documented, but have fallen into thin air. In the last two electoral rounds, a massive manipulation has come, which caused a removal of the people from the vote, in the belief that nothing can change and that the international community will continue to close its eyes “.
On the external front, «Vucic did a bit like casino players who play on multiple tables at the same time, thinking of winning all over: He consolidated his personal relationships first with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, then he turned to Vladimir Putin, he later went to Beijing from Xi Jinping, in the Arab countries. Everyone made it clear that Serbia was at their disposal. Belgrade today is full of Russians who, since the war in Ukraine broke out, have been running quietly with their cars with Russian plates, They opened many companies in Serbia by circumventing the penalties imposed by the EU. In short, in the heart of Europe there is a place where the Russian tycoons are at home and act as they want ». In 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Serbia refused to impose the penalties in Moscow and, indeed, has made economic agreements with Russia. All this while Serbia has the process for adherence to the European Union. “The Serbs have lost trust in Europe. The consent towards the EU has collapsed. The western Balkans feel excluded and so they do not progress in the enlargement process ». At this moment the power is all in the hands of Vucic (which was re -elected in 2022): “The prime minister has resigned, formally there is now no government. Parliament continues to operate, but from a practical point of view everything that the government should have done now depends on Vucic ». In Serbia today, Paolo continues, Russian, Chinese, Saudis interests are concentrated. “The city of Belgrade is now prey to a gigantic building speculation, congested by a frightening traffic”.
Then, however, there is the other side of the medal: the protests of the square, the great movement of revolt of students and citizens: «The beauty of having hundreds of thousands of demonstrators around, as happened on March 15 in Belgrade, I almost struggle to describe it, because in Italy I have never seen something like that. It was like a big party. My wife and I participated, also bringing our teenage son. University students feel an incredible collective intelligence, which I had never seen before. They do not have identified leaders, discuss in internal assemblies, are extremely fluid and perfectly organized. In these events there has never been an accident, everything is studied in detail, the students control that violent, suspicious, provocative elements do not infiltrate. And people support and support them. A wonderful, absolutely peaceful movement “.
These protests have already generated a profound change: «Today a different Serbia has emerged, made up of many people who are many more than those who have ruined the country. And the movement started by the students involved everyone. The revolution has already occurred and is growing. Nobody wants to go back and almost nobody is afraid of putting his face on it. The Serbian boys who take to the square are teaching to all of us, Italians and European ones, that this is the future of Europe. And if we do not listen to them and we do not support them we have failed everyone ».
(Photo Ansa: the great protest march led by university students in Belgrade on March 15th)
