Serbia remains immersed in a deep political crisis against the perplexed look of the European Union. Will there be any way out of this impasse? Our reporter Julián López Gómez moved to Belgrade and Niš to learn more about the situation.
The protests in Serbia began when 15 people died after the fall of a roof at a railway station in the city of Novi Sad. The protesters accuse the authorities of corruption and authoritarianism, and despite the resignation of Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, the movement, directed by students, extended to more than 200 cities.
President Serbio, Aleksandar Vučić, accused students of leading a “attempt to revolution.” Vučić says that there are “foreign powers” that want to get him out of power and destabilize Serbia. Until now, the EU has remained discreet, with the European Commission to declare that “supports the rule of law and freedom of meeting.”
Serbia you have a country candidate for eu adherence since 2012, with negotiations to start in 2014. The eu is Serbia’s Largest Commercial Partner, The Largest Investor and the Largest Financial Assistance Provider to the country, and you have reserved. Loans for When Serbia Carries Out More Renewals in Business, Environmental and Digital Sectors, and Digital Renewations. as well as in the rule of law.
Young people require less corruption and more democracy, transparency, justice, fraternity and responsibility, and suspect the country’s political institutions.
“When it comes to elections, many people don’t even trust them. I hope something changes soon, because if you don’t change, we will sink more and more democracy,” says Lena, a 20 -year -old electrical engineering student.
He participated in an important protest in Niš, the third largest city in Serbia, with his friends Staša and Dimitrije. “Few people face a country as necessary to build together, as something we all have to invest and with which we all have to worry. (For many people) it is something that can take money. I think what we are doing here is morally the right thing at this time.”
Students also require an independent judicial system and equal rights, and have not combined with any political party or ideology. They also refuse to say their nicknames because they believe that personal life is not relevant to the situation.
“I like to live according to my values of honesty and responsibility. But for my actions to be worthy and have an effect, I think, as a collective, we must all respect them,” says Staša, also an electrical engineering student. “And those who lead the country and our people must be the first to give an example. We want our knowledge to be valued and that our hard work is appreciated. We want to be judged not by our political opinions, but for what we are and what we do.”
Although young Serbs have been mobilized by justice and the fight against corruption, for many of them the EU is not a palpable reality, due to the delay in the adhesion process. Some also feel that the EU’s response to the perception of democratic erosion has been weak, which feeds a latent Eurocetism in younger generations, says Dragana Djrica, an expert in the relationship between Serbia and the EU and the general secretary of the European movement in Serbia (EMINS).
“The generation of between 45 and 60 years is mainly in favor of the integration of the EU, while the youngest generation shows indifference, disbelief and disinterest to become a member of the EU,” says Djrica. “Generation 45 to 60 was the age of young people today during the 1990s. These people remember the isolation time very well, the times of the sanctions, the times of conflict in the region, and do not want it to happen again.”
According to Djrica, it is crucial that the EU strives more in education, cultural exchanges and financing to captivate young Serbs, tired of the long adhesion process, now the objective of misinformation campaigns. “There is a combination of several problems that are causing citizens to know what the EU represents, what the EU offers and what are the obligations of Serbia in this context of the European integration process,” says Djrica. “We hope that the EU will take a firmer position by defending the fundamental values that it represents and communicates them correctly to citizens so that this generation does not lose interest in it.”
The students promised to continue the mobilization until the country adopts a system “that values knowledge and work, not obedience and silence.”
