A man lies on a street in Valjevo, a city about 90km (56 miles) southwest of the capital, Belgrade. Several police officers surround him, striking him as he lies on the ground. The footage became one of the most recognisable pieces of evidence of police violence during student-led protests that shook Serbia.
In the year since, the protests have grown into a mass movement challenging the longstanding political dominance of President Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s leader of more than a decade, who has sought to balance close ties with Moscow with the country’s declared path towards the European Union. Blockades spread across the country. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets.
And students moved beyond their initial demands for accountability over the collapse of a concrete canopy at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, which killed 16 people, and began calling for political change. Valjevo is a place where one can measure how much Serbia has changed and how far the student movement is prepared to go. She recently became the target of a public smear campaign after media outlets close to the government accused her of “bringing down the state”.
According to her, independent journalists are in an extremely dangerous position. But she has no intention of retreating in the face of threats. She will once again cover an anniversary rally in Valjevo on Friday.
Police said the use of force was lawful and came after citizens attacked officers, arguing that there had been no other way to restore public order. Tomislav Markovic, a Belgrade-based writer who has followed Serbia’s political and social landscape for years, recalled that the day after the protests and police violence, masked attackers vandalised another cafe in Valjevo, injured a female employee, then stormed an auto repair shop and physically assaulted its owner and customers. No one was held accountable, Markovic said, directly blaming Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), who have been in power for 14 years.
The students now blocking universities and demanding a different society were between seven and 12 years old when Vucic came to power. Yet he warned that nationalist symbols and rhetoric have become increasingly visible within the student movement. Old signs of Serbia’s nationalist repertoire have resurfaced, including references to “sacred Serbian lands” – rhetoric that Serbia’s neighbours, above all Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro, perceive as a threat.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
