Serbia - an example for the world to follow

#353

My Dear Friend,

How do we save democracy?

By standing up against autocrats.

Like the many students in Serbia do. Against Serbia's increasingly autocratic president, Aleksander Vucic.

Vucic has been in power since 2012. And he has increasingly used this power so that others can no longer challenge him. For example, by public media reporting predominantly positively about him.

And yet dissatisfaction has grown with his authoritarian leadership style.

Its catalyst came last November, when the canopy of a train station collapsed in the city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people.

Many believe the canopy was not appropriately built due to corruption.

Recently, half a million people took to the streets in the capital, Belgrade.

Will Vucic be overthrown? Will the protests of the students be successful?

This week, Filip Balunovic, a research fellow at the University of Belgrade's Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory and an assistant professor at Singidunum University, wrote in the New York Times¹:

"There's no assurance they'll succeed. After months of protests, blockades and door-to-door campaigning, many are exhausted. Some have been imprisoned, accused of plotting a coup, and there have been incidents of police brutality. But for all the difficulties, the protesters are doing it their own way — without leaders, without hierarchies, through plenums and strictly horizontal decision-making. Equal and united in solidarity, they are changing Serbia and setting an example for the world to follow."

The least we can do is give our attention to the people of Serbia.

See you in Democracy,

Johannes

1. Balunovic, F. (2025, May 12). Something Extraordinary Is Happening in My Country. The New York Times.