In November 2024, the roof of the newly renovated train station in Novi will collapse Sad, Serbia's second largest city. 16 people lose their lives. SThe anger and frustration over the country's widespread corruption should spur Serbia's students to to organize oneself. Using blockades, they are trying to force change. Development magazine's Isabel Odelfelt has met the students which has been blocked for two weeks the state media house in Belgrade.
In the middle of Belgrade there is Serbian public services stronghold, popularly known as the TV house. The back is still in ruins after the NATO bombing in 1999. Both television and radio, and not least news, are produced and broadcast here to large parts of the country's population. But not right now.
In front of the TV building, three large garbage containers block car traffic. Some young people are playing volleyball in the middle of the road. Small stands of white party tents with various flags are set up along the sidewalk. In one, a group of veterans in military uniform are sitting and offering coffee and Serbian pastries. There is a positive atmosphere, almost as if a lively market were going on, but here there is nothing for sale. There is a blockade going on.
Day 13 of the blockade of Radio-televisiji Srbije: How it began
Sitting on a flower box outside the TV building is law student Relja Jarkovački. He tells how the student protests began back in November. Students all over Serbia are going on strike and occupying university buildings. Only students and employees are allowed inside.
– We started with physical blockades of university faculties. According to the constitution, universities have autonomy. If the dean of the faculty has not called the police himself, the police cannot enter the building.
There is no formal teaching. With the support of their professors, the students instead dedicate themselves to building a national protest movement. They create something they themselves call “active democracy.” The core of it all is the plenum. A meeting where every student has the opportunity to have their voice heard. Some faculties hold plenums every day, others once a week. During the plenum, decisions are voted on, then representatives from each faculty meet in Belgrade and then representatives nationally in another plenum.
To get their message out, students march between cities, stopping along the way to speak to locals. They have also cycled to both Strasbourg and Brussels to speak to EU parliamentarians. The students organise daily demonstrations and have managed to engage large sections of the population. On 15 March, around 325000 protesters for Serbia's largest protest ever.
Day 14: Why public service needs to be reformed
On April 27, students have been guarding the building's many entrances for a fortnight. No employee is allowed to enter. Outside the main entrance, people have gathered with Serbian flags and homemade placards. The tutor and hundreds of whistles sound out of time. A student stands and beats a drum.
Darja, a language student who works as a media manager, says that they make noise on purpose. They want to be heard and they want to be seen. That's how they force change.
She says that the state media regulatory body (REM) is supposed to be independent and monitor radio, television and other electronic media in Serbia. But that right now REM functions more as a political tool.
The agency was supposed to have a new board in October, but the process has been deliberately delayed and is characterized by political influence and non-transparent decisions. Therefore, there is currently no form of regulation of what appears in the media and no one who can hold the media accountable.
– Our biggest problem is private media, but since they are privately owned, there is not much we can do about them. But this is our national public service company, and we pay for it. We as citizens, every citizen, pay for it through taxes. But they are not doing their job of objectively informing people about everything that is happening in the country. Not only what our government or president is doing, but also about the protests, explains Darja.
She believes that both private and state media are spreading lies that the students are violent, supported by foreign politicians, and even that they are Nazis. No independent actor can question these claims.
To lift the blockade, the students demand that the process of appointing a new board be initiated and that it be done through a transparent, legal and fair process. They want REM to regain its role as an independent regulatory authority. That the voice and interest of the citizens be put first – not the government or the party.
Day 15: Winds of Victory
As evening falls on the fifteenth day, more and more people flock in. There is an excited atmosphere. All eyes are on the balcony of the TV building, which is adorned with a banner painted by the biology faculty: “Without revolution, there is no evolution.” Shortly after 19 p.m., the news comes. The government agrees to the students’ demands.
Students fill the balcony and from a megaphone comes the call “Novi Sad Novi Sad”, the name of the city where sixteen people lost their lives. Those on the ground hang on. Someone starts music and a spontaneous ring dance ensues. Everywhere students hug and congratulate each other.
But the celebration is short. The demands have been met and the blockade is to be lifted. The students start to take down the tents and for the first time I get to go behind the blockade. On the other side is an excited Darja.
– It was a success. They did what we demanded. It means that our way of acting actually works. Pure joy. It really feels good and right. It's a fantastic start, she says.
I ask if she thinks it will be a long night. She laughs and says that they are used to cleaning up and that they have had longer nights. This is at least a positive one. By 22 p.m. the blockade is completely gone and traffic starts moving again.
The blockade of public service may have been lifted, but around the country students continue their protests and the fight for a country with less corruption and more democracy.
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