A year after footage showed police officers striking a man lying on a street in Valjevo, Serbia’s student-led protests have grown from demands for accountability into a mass movement challenging President Aleksandar Vucic and the political dominance of his Serbian Progressive Party.
The protests began after a concrete canopy collapsed at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, killing 16 people. Blockades later spread across the country, and hundreds of thousands of people joined demonstrations.
Why Valjevo became a symbol
Valjevo, about 90km (56 miles) southwest of Belgrade, became a measure of the movement’s impact after the August 14, 2025, confrontation. Police said officers used lawful force after citizens attacked them and that there was no other way to restore public order.
Darija Rankovic, editor-in-chief of the news portal Kolubarske.rs, said the incident left the city with a deep trauma and that the erosion of trust remains visible in daily life. She said independent journalists face danger when senior officials and government-aligned media label them enemies or threats to the state.
Related coverage: Abderrahim Fakir’s Death Highlights Ongoing Issues with Police Conduct in Italy.
From accountability demands to political change
Students initially sought accountability over the Novi Sad railway station collapse. Over the following year, they moved beyond that demand, blocking universities and calling for political change after more than a decade of Vucic’s leadership.
Writer Tomislav Markovic said the protests awakened political energy among people who had felt hopeless and inactive. He argued that removing Vucic and the Serbian Progressive Party from power would be the movement’s most important step, while warning that a fundamental political and ideological transformation remains difficult to imagine.
The movement’s support now faces tensions
Markovic said nationalist symbols and rhetoric, including references to “sacred Serbian lands”, have become more visible within the student movement. He said this has disillusioned some liberal citizens and weakened part of the movement’s initial support in neighbouring countries, particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro.
Human rights activist Aida Corovic said she still supports the students as the largest and most serious alternative to Vucic’s government, but warned that the movement cannot avoid deciding what kind of Serbia it wants to build if it seeks political power. She also said most students remain democratically oriented and do not have nationalist or right-wing ambitions.
No comments yet. Start the discussion.