CNN
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On the first day of November, Alexander Matokovic was running late on the train. He traveled to the capital Begrad from Novi Sad in northern Serbia. I work as an economic historian. When he arrived at the station, he witnessed a fear scene that shaked the country to date.
A few minutes before he arrived, the canopy at the station, which was completed a few months ago, collapsed and crushed passengers waiting for the platform. 15 were killed.
“I was standing for about a couple of hours, but I looked at the space with the canopy. The whole was very unrealistic,” Matocovic told CNN.
The shock quickly turned into anger. The collapsed canopy has become a powerful symbol of what many Serbians consider as corruption in the center of the nation. What began as a dead all night was a protest of almost a day, bringing out the constant segments of Serbian society and reaching every corner of the Vulcan countries. “We are in the unknown area,” said Matokovic.
The demonstration led by students, which demands the complete release of documents on the reconstruction work, is very large, and some are wondering whether VUCIC can be defeated. “All kinds of questions have passed through the hearts,” said Matokovic.
VUCIC has dominated Serbia in 2014 as the Prime Minister, and has become the president three years later. Former Minister of Information on Serbian democracy, Slobodan Mirochevic’s brutal Yugoslavia administration, has deteriorated under the progressive party (SNS) in Vukic. Freedom House, which measures democracy, stated that Serbia had declined from “free” to “party -free” in 2019, quoting the president’s hand of attack and power concentration on the media.
Analysts say his system is difficult to classify. Not as compact as Alexander Lukashenko Belarus, but not as tolerant of Victor Olban Hungary. Ivana Stradner, a fellow of the Democratic Defense Foundation, said that Vi Sitch was “Serbia on what Russia was in the early 1990s and in a criminal corruption without law.” Was stated.
Nevertheless, his slander praised him as a cany operator. In the multi -polar world, many countries, such as Serbia, a great area in the area where the west praise from historical allies, is enjoying many options. For Moscow, Serbia can stop slides to the west of other Vulcan countries. For Europe, a huge amount of proposal lithium mine can be important for green transitions. In the case of China, Serbia provides opportunities to increase its influence through Belt and Road Initiative.
Even a part of the United States is interested in this country. Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son -in -law, is reportedly working on a contract to build a Trump brand hotel in Beograd.
In the case of Serbia, this trading approach may not be a consistent ideology -selling weapons to Ukraine, but refused to participate in sanctions on Russia, but is profitable. Serbia has maintained Russian gas, Chinese infrastructure, European investment, and even flashy American construction projects.
However, this “strategic ambiguity” has sacrificed domestic dissatisfaction, as Strador calls it.
“The people were enough,” said Engjellushe Morina, a senior fellow of the European Council on diplomatic relations. “Students are tired of this rhetoric … Vucic says one thing for internal consumption and another thing for international consumption.”
The anger at the government has been brewed for years. In May 2023, when Serbia swayed with two mass fires, people protested the country’s “violence culture.” After the elections in the second half of the year, there were more demonstrations, and the opposition called for re -execution. They lasted for a few weeks, but eventually felt sick.
The protest and analyst say that this time is different. The potential dissatisfaction with the government discovered the expression in the tragedy of Novi’s sad station. The station was resumed in a hurry in 2022 -VUCIC and ORBAN attended -Prior to the election held that year, it was closed for more work by Chinese companies and their subcontractors. Ta. MATKOVIC said that Serbs felt that the project was “promptly tracked” and “promoted by political elite.” In July 2024, it was resumed just four months before the newly built canopy collapsed.
Previous scandals could not stick to Vucic, but this is. Stradner said that the alleged perception of corruption was “one of the unification of all people.”
Serbian prosecutors have been prosecuted 13 in the role of disasters, including the former Minister of Construction, Transportation, and Infrastructure, but protests are politically and criminally responsible for people. We are demanding more to do something.
The analyst says that VUCIC is skilled in hindering protests by abandoning the target, abandoning allies, catching opposition parties from off -guards, or laughing. He regularly labels protests as a “foreign agent” who wants to perform the “Revolution of Color” like other old Soviet countries.
However, these demonstrations represent new tasks. As they began as mourning, they had few signs of political flags, such as flags of the European Union, which had previously been used to damage the demonstration.
Protests are also drawn to a wide range of Serbian society. In the scene reminiscent of the end of the Mirochevic administration, farmers participated and driven the tractor to Begrad.
Edward P. Joseph, a lecturer at John’s Hopkins University, who has been in Balcans, including NATO, has been shocked by many of the judiciary, taking into account the dominance of Vitico. 。
“Usually, they don’t raise their heads in such a public style, but they now show quiet support for protests,” Joseph told CNN. “The fear factors are gone.”
Joseph is not clear how VUCIC can regain its power. VUCIC needs a responsibility to “play this charade”, so violent crackdowns are “writing his own inscription”.
But the opposite approach -Molina said that it was also challenging to start a large democratic reform. Prime Minister Milos Vsevich resigned this week and said, “To further enhance the tension of society.”
“How much persuasive can he change the whole movement he (vucic)? For democratic movements?” Said Morina.
It is not clear what can break the deadlock. The protest movement has been a distance from the opposition politicians. In other words, there is no obvious alternative to the wings. But this may be a strength, Stradner said.
“It’s time to stop having a cult with a personality that Serbia has been holding for decades. She believes more in law, justice, and balance, rather than believing in one personality type. She said.
