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After freedom, we want to give our people something radical: a normal, functioning state Two years ago, I harboured no political ambition whatsoever. I was a student at the faculty of technical sciences in Novi Sad, my home town, pursuing a PhD in human resources and simply living my life. That was until the canopy collapse at the newly renovated train station in Novi Sad in November 2024, which killed 16 people. I took part in street protests and rallies in response to this shocking event, and like many others, realised that it needed to be a turning point. This was not an unavoidable tragedy. Systemic corruption and a culture of entrenched impunity were obvious factors in the collapse. But instead of ordering a full and impartial investigation and coming clean on official failings, the authorities began pushing back against us for demanding justice. We were vilified and attacked in the streets but law enforcement did nothing. So we took refuge in our lecture halls and schools, barricading ourselves inside faculty buildings, ready for a long haul. Novak Simin is a member of Serbia’s Student List movement Continue reading...

Two years after the Novi Sad tragedy gave birth to a youthful political movement, Sunday’s remarkable election has taken the country into a new era This weekend it will be two years since the collapse of a shoddily constructed train station canopy in Serbia’s second city, Novi Sad. The tragedy , killing 16 people, was swiftly attributed to state corruption and failures of regulation, sparking student-led protests across the country. Some of those demonstrators dared to imagine that they could become the catalyst for a democratic revolution. Continue reading...

The Student List movement is taking on authoritarian leader following nearly two years of protests against government and institutional corruption What is at stake in Serbia’s election? The latest turnout projection by Ipsos/Cesid suggests a turnout of 60.8% by 5pm local time (4pm UK), with three hours still to go until the polling stations close. That’s more than 13 percentage points higher than in 2023, and would be the highest turnout since mid-2000s. “ What hasn’t motivated me? There isn’t a single reason I could give that would keep me from showing up at my polling station at 6:20 in the morning.” Continue reading...

Serbia goes to the polls this weekend, as a student-led protest movement tries to oust the illiberal ruling party that’s widely regarded as corrupt.

Student-led anti-corruption and cost-of-living protests in Albania are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, among other demands. Hundreds of injuries and arrests have been reported amid a violent police crackdown, along with widespread damage to public and private property. The student demands are an outgrowth of the “Flamingo Revolution,” which erupted earlier this year in opposition to a luxury resort being developed on the ecologically sensitive Sazan Island. The planned resort is backed by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, President Trump’s son-in-law and daughter, and has been fast-tracked by the Rama government. “Students find no future in Albania,” says Bora Mema, a founding member of the left-wing political party Lëvizja Bashkë, about the motivations behind the burgeoning pro-democracy movement. “Many of us have to migrate because the only development model that the government proposes is to clean the toilets of the rich and the mafia in luxurious resorts, like the one that Trump and Kushner and the national oligarchs and mafia in Albania are constructing.”