“We won’t tell you what you should do – not that we don’t know [what you should do]But because you do. People should be directed by their discretion. ,
With the thesis words, on June 28, students in Belgrade passed the baton of civil resistance to the rest of the Serbian society.
He did this during a protest in which he clearly prepared an ultimatum for the government: Ether faced a Snap parliamentary election or a civil disobedience.
Following eight months of peaceful demonstrations, anti-graft and anti-government protest movement have entered a new phase.
How did the protest increase?
On June 28, the protests rose into clashes between citizens and police, who spent hours to remove protesters from the city’s center roads. Police used Stun Grenade, Tear Gas and Baton in response to the protesters throwing bottles and stones.
Social media platforms were quickly flooded using police officers using force to police officers – even those who did not resist against those who did not resist.
The story of Luka Mihjlochovich, a student of Novi Sad, spread like a forest fire: Mihjloch was allegedly knocked and beaten while standing peacefully with his hands.
He was constantly due to injuries, Mihjlovich ended in a hospital, where – a judge ordered him to keep him in custody without hearing – waiting for surgery. His mother found him in the hospital, who reached the bed, under the guard and without any phone.
Are students goals for police?
The next day, the blockade spread from Belgrade to the rest of Serbia.
Citizens install barricades using spontaneous bandh roads and intersections – some dumplings, other pedestrians move forward and back in crossings.
The police responded with force. Hundreds were wide; Many were injured.
For activists and professors in the faculty of biology at the University of Belgrade, Biljana Stojkovic saw a special cruel police attack on students that she says, she was playing volleyball in a road blockade.
“Many police vans arrived and within seconds, police officers moved to the intersection towards the students, who were scattered and fled to the face of the law,” Stojkovic said.
That evening footage shows police officers killing students, who take them out of the faculty building and expand them.
“It was so terrible that I almost turned black,” called Stojkovic. “I shouted, hit the police shields, really in total disappointment, because the scene was incredibly cruel. They pushed me to one side, as they were clearly under order to arrest and beat the students.”
Increase indicates new strategy
More than 300 civilians were detained during the first fee of Civil Disobedience. The number has increased considerably since, but no data has been officially released.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has not responded to the requests of DW for information.
Those detailed minors, students, professors, doctors, lawyers, workers, politicians and opposition councilors are.
In response, the students have transferred to a new strategy that they call “outsmating”. This involves moving instead of resisting. When the police arrive, the protesters go to a separate intersection or simply sit in the shade, while the officers guards on the hot asphalt, blocking an empty “blockade”.
President’s personnel strategy
But the way the authorities in Belgrade and Novi Sad seemed to be retreating from the use of force, similarly new protest flashpoints started emerging in Serbia.
“While the police in a city brutally, in others, it is calm. Nevertheless, the police using pavements, on the streets, without any reason, within two days, within two days, with those peel recanner allegations, the police have carried forward their ID check.”
He believes that all this is part of the strategy of President Alexander Person. He knows that she should balance oppression with avoiding open violence, as cruelty can trigger a reaction from the European Union.
The story from the Interior Ministry officially oscillates between calls for quiet and direct threats.
Minister Ivika Dasik said that “blocking important roads” is illegal and will not be tolerated. According to him, the police bus is doing its work. “Everyone has the right to political engagement,” Dasik said, “but there is a time and a place for the political fight.”
Will the police be loyal?
The increasing number of citizens no longer believes that the police is functioning duly, saying that they are as a political equipment.
More than 100 farmer and active police officers signed an appeal to their colleagues to reject the illegal order.
Among them I am Ugjesa Bokik, who left the police in 2023 and now works in journalism. Hey says that many do not support the current situation in the police force.
“The law forces them to stay out on the streets, but they are facing a moral dilemma that runs the counter for their legal duties,” Boki told DW.
Two active officials interviewed by DW confirmed that dissatisfaction with the police force – especially in recent months – but they say, for now, it is no more than mumbling under the hen breath. ,
“While people can expect it for this, the idea that the police with people is quite romantic.” “I can imagine a silent rebellion more easily: people going on leave leave are looking for other ways to avoid acting against citizens without risking their position.”
He claims that the authorities have placed supporters of the ruling party in police uniform and are deploying them with real authorities, saying that such a step is impossible to keep the wild secret.
Nevertheless, he says that “there is a small cycle of officials who are absolutely loyal to the government.”
Vucic is stagnant: no snap election
Despite all this, the President Vucic still clearly dismiss the possibility of a snap election, following his previous line that elections in Serbia will be held only in the end of 2026/2027.
“Not five or six hours without thinking about elections. I am a political animal – I live for this, 24 hours a day. But you should understand that they are importing more than elections – such as your country, your Serbia, “Vuci said.
But the conditions on the ground show that the pressure does not want less. Protests are being organized in almost every city, the blockade is spontaneously pop up, and citizens are coordinating the changes such as preparing for long resistance.
Students believe that protests want to decentralize more in summer as many return to their homes and organize continuously there. Similarly, they managed to maintain the movement during winter holidays, when many people thought that would get out of the protests.
Professor Stojkovic says, “The only way to this crisis – both social and political – is Snap Parliamentary election.” “The country is already collapsing, and if it continues, the election wants to become unavoidable.”
For citizens on the streets, elections are not the ultimate goals; But minimum requirement. They say that the pressure is just starting.
Edited by: Angle Flangon
