Saša Dobrijević speaks to DDF about how Serbia’s students turned two years of protest into a parliamentary majority

On Sunday 25 October, Serbia’s Student List won the snap parliamentary election and brought fourteen years of SNS rule to an end. At the Digital Democracy Foundation we have been following this movement for a long time, because what happened in Serbia speaks directly to the questions we work on: how citizens organise when institutions fail them, how decisions can be shared rather than concentrated, and how a message can reach people when the media will not carry it. We asked Saša Dobrijević, international journalist and founder of ICJ Global Media Group, to tell the story as he saw it unfold.

“After the collapse of the canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people, the students of Serbia began blockades of universities across the country. The government of Aleksandar Vučić immediately launched media spin and attempted to break the blockades, because the students pointed to corruption as the main cause of the tragedy. Thanks to excellent organization, internal communication, and determination, the students managed to completely raise public awareness.

They held gatherings and presented facts regarding other manipulations and corruption that had been present during 14 years of SNS (Serbian Progressive Party) rule. The plenums organized by the students at universities strongly resembled the rotating government of Switzerland; in fact, every day they changed the individuals responsible for making decisions and implementing plans. This democratic form confused the autocrats, who did not know whom to attack, since the decision‑making committee changed daily, always with the vote of all present at the plenums. Thus, there was no single leader or permanent board — functions rotated and shifted almost on a daily basis. The authorities had no concrete target, no one specific to attack, because in reality everyone participated.

After some time, physical attacks on students began: cars were driven into peaceful demonstrators, brutal beatings by police occurred in the city of Valjevo, even against minors, and students who were already under pressure from the government were arrested. The students did not give up; united and organized, they began the action of walking across Serbia. In order to raise awareness, and since they did not have a media advantage, they decided to personally bring diplomacy to the streets. Mass marches were organized from town to town throughout Serbia to awaken the people. They even walked and rode bicycles to the EU, to Strasbourg and Brussels, to draw attention to the suppression of human rights, the brutal use of police force, and the media blackout.

Their actions turned into direct communication with citizens, door to door. They organized visits to villages, even the most remote ones with very few inhabitants, to talk with them. They attracted global media attention and gained international support. Despite the spin carried out by the then government (which has now lost to the students), they managed to break through the media blackout with direct communication and to take organized steps further. They created a citizens’ association and formed a Student List composed of top experts, professors, PhDs, and others, with which they ran in the parliamentary elections. Citizens came out en masse to sign for the list, so the students easily gained the opportunity to register their list for parliament. After last year’s mass protests, including one of the largest in the history of Serbia, they won an overwhelming majority because they awakened even the dormant voters.

What they now announce is a detailed reform of laws and institutions, the introduction of the rule of law, freedom of the media, and the democratic values that were destroyed during the previous government. Their program includes a different kind of diplomacy and, most importantly, lustration — confiscation of property illegally acquired through corruption and trials for those who broke the law. The professional cadre on their list differs greatly from those previously in power, as there is much evidence that individuals bought diplomas and titles to obtain positions. The current autocratic government still tries to set traps and provoke violence, but the students have publicly called on citizens to engage only in peaceful processes and legal activities that will bring change, and not to fall [for provocations].”

Saša Dobrijević is the founder and CEO of ICJ Global Media Group LLC (Intercontinental Connection of Journalists) and an international diplomatic journalist.