Anti-Corruption Protests in Serbia – update and continuing

On March 4, I wrote  about the Serbian students’ protests and how this is inspirational during these turbulent times.  At that time, it was inspirational but over the weekend, on Saturday, March 15, the protests took on an even greater urgency. Over 100,000, possibly up to 300,000, Serbians took to the street, and this included students, veterans and farmers on March 15. The world press continues to cover it and the students have now broadened their appeal to Serbians both in Belgrade and outside of Belgrade.

"We will no longer allow corruption to endanger anyone's life, as happened in Novi Sad, where it claimed 15 lives," a student speaker told the cheering crowd, referring to the collapse of the canopy at the main railway station of Serbia's second-largest city on November 1, 2024, which had only just been renovated. The tragedy triggered a wave of anger that first spread throughout the universities before expanding to the whole of society.” 

On the 15th the broader group of citizens wanted reform and peacefully showed their support of better anti-corruption frameworks. The government notes that these protests are a western construct, but as the west is itself in disarray, this may just be wishful thinking on the part of the Serbian government.

What should the next steps include? In most cases the suggested move would be to continue to monitor as well as encourage civil society to monitor and advocate. This is occurring and it seems that the movement is giving the citizens a way to show the government their discontent. We’ll keep monitoring, and hope to see concrete steps, in terms of changes in government procurement.

Links:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/huge-crowds-join-anti-government-rally-belgrade-after-sporadic-violence-2025-03-15/

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/03/16/belgrade-s-historic-day-of-anger-hundreds-of-thousands-of-serbians-protest-for-laws-and-justice-that-work_6739206_4.html

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/03/15/euronews-over-100000-people-gather-in-belgrade-over-novi-sads-canopy-collapse-which-killed

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/15/europe/serbias-protests-saturday-ap-intl/index.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/15/tensions-mount-in-serbia-as-protesters-converge-on-belgrade

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/03/15/mass-protest-in-belgrade-against-president-vucics-government

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20250315-belgrade-on-edge-as-anti-government-protesters-converge-on-serbian-capital