A year after Serbia's Novi Sad disaster: 'It is no longer the country it was before 1 November last year'

One year ago, on 1 November 2024, the canopy of the train station in the Serbian town of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people.

The Novi Sad train station was renovated shortly before the collapse in 2024 — by a Chinese company. Citizens soon blamed the tragedy on corruption within Serbian political elites.

Following 12 months of rolling protests, students are planning a commemoration protest in Novi Sad for the victims. They are also calling for early elections — and the government of president Aleksandar Vučić is reacting with aggression.

The biggest protests in Serbian history followed in the days after the disaster, lasting for weeks and months. Students, especially from Novi Sad itself, led the protests but were soon supported by a wider public.

Florian Bieber, professor for southeastern European history at the University of Graz, told EUobserver that the students actively looked for support in villages and rural areas where there have never previously been any kind of protests or opposition. “They have succeeded in mobilising the entire ideological spectrum” he said.

That’s why the pressure on the regime is now higher than it has been before.

And tensions between the protesters and pro-government forces are growing.

Pavle Cicvarić, a Serbian student participating in the protests, told EUobserver: “A year
ago, SNS [the party of Aleksandar Vučić] supporters tried to stab me at a protest. The prosecution did nothing. I’ve been arrested several times, the last time was four months ago in my hometown.”

His is just one example of many other peaceful protesters who have faced experiences of such violence and suppression.

However, the EU response to the student rebellion has been cautious, and was “conspicuously silent during the first months of the protests”, according to Filip Ejdus, a professor at the University of Belgrade.

Indeed, there have been joint press conferences of EU Council president Antonio Costa or Ursula von der Leyen with Serbian president Vučić, where the European leaders have been on friendly terms —Costa even calling Vučić “dear Aleksandar”.

'Even if this protest movement is not successful, in the sense that there are no new elections or that the new elections are delayed, I believe that it has already changed the reality in Serbia very significantly. It is no longer the country it was before 1 November last year'

After the students organised a cycling protest in April — travelling through Europe, visiting Strasbourg and Brussels — Ejdus saw a change of heart especially in the “Left, Green, and centrist groups [of the European Parliament], as well as the EU Commission, especially enlargement commissioner Marta Kos,” who have since expressed their solidarity with the Serbian protesters.

'Not enough'

“Serbian youth do view the EU's responses as pretty bad, and they think it's not enough,” Velimir Milošev, a student from Serbia and president of the National Youth Council of Serbia told EUobserver.

“You will not be seeing EU flags at the protests, it's only Serbian flags, and the feeling is that although we are, seeking European values of democracy and rule of law, we're doing it in our own way,” he added.

Toby Vogel from the Berlin based think-tank Democratization Policy Council said that the commission was scared that Vučić — and with him, Serbia — could turn away from the EU and focus only on Russia.

“But Moscow has nothing to offer Serbia. The threat ‘we [Serbia] will go over to the Russian side’ is an empty threat. And the Europeans should simply call him out on this," he warned.

Early elections?

Since May the protests have been calling for early elections.

Currently, the students are developing a list of candidates for any possible election.

“The students try to keep this list secret, with at least a few exceptions, because they know that anyone on the list is a target for the regime”, Bieber told EUobserver.

"The regime is notorious for using its media to attack people with lies or by digging up or inventing dirt from their past in order to denigrate individuals and candidates.”

Opinion polls look promising for the student list, even though no names have been published yet.

In mid-October 44 percent of citizens supported the student list, while the bloc led by Aleksandar Vučić had the backing of 32 percent.

The last elections were in December 2023, and the next scheduled election in Serbia would be in 2027.

Vučić has announced that he could imagine holding elections at the end of 2026. But he could just as easily wait even longer. 

Growing frustration among the students and police brutality are fuelling the risk of violent escalation. And according to Bieber that is a risk the government is willing to take in hope of discouraging the protesters.

A commemoration ceremony and protests is planned for Saturday (1 November). There is a tense atmosphere in Serbia, with many concerned about potential attacks on the protesters.

But from all across the country, people are marching to Novi Sad to support the protest.

“Since last year, I think especially young people, students, have made some kind of miracle. It is an atmosphere of, in the first place, solidarity”, Dinko Gruhonjić, a Serbian journalist and professor told EUobserver.

But “If you talk about the regime, the atmosphere is very dangerous towards citizens and students, and journalists and civil activists and opposition parties. The level of repression is very high," he added.

Professor Bieber concluded: “Even if this protest movement is not successful, in the sense that there are no new elections or that the new elections are delayed, I believe that it has already changed the reality in Serbia very significantly. It is no longer the country it was before 1 November last year.”

Every month, hundreds of thousands of people read the journalism and opinion published by EUobserver. With your support, millions of others will as well.

If you're not already, become a supporting member today.