Student protests have become a powerful factor in facilitating political and social change in Serbia, with the potential for further expansion and growing support, CRTA’s new public opinion research shows.
“Even after nearly three months, student protests are not only continuing but they are gaining support,” announced CRTA.
According to the latest research, 64 percent of people support the student protests. “More than half (52 percent) share the view that the students’ demands have not been met, and believe that students and university representatives are the only ones qualified to assess whether the demands have been fulfilled,” CRTA stated.
As noted in CRTA’s report, nearly 60 percent of people trust the students, and the same percentage believes that the president is not responsible for satisfying student demands.
“The greatest increase in support over the past month has been recorded among those who typically support the ruling party,” CRTA reported. They added: “Now, one in five citizens who lean toward the ruling party supports the protests, whereas at the end of December, that number was half as much.”
Citizens Believe Protests Can Bring About Positive Changes
CRTA’s research also indicates that citizens believe the protests can result in positive changes, with 46 percent of respondents saying the country is moving in the right direction, compared to 38 percent who think otherwise. “The rise in optimism about the country’s future, as the data suggests, clearly stems from the energy from the student protests rather than confidence in government policies or the state of the economy,” the researchers assessed.
CRTA emphasized that most citizens “do not believe in media and political manipulations aimed at discrediting the students.” For 72 percent of citizens, the protests are a result of government neglect and corruption, rather than an attempt at a “color revolution” or “separatism” in the northern region of Vojvodina. Moreover, people overwhelmingly see corruption as Serbia’s biggest problem.
The mass protests in Serbia erupted shortly after the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1, 2024, which killed 15 people. The poor government response, repression against peaceful demonstrators, and attacks on protesting students led to the formation of the largest student movement in Europe in recent decades. Almost all state universities and a large number of private higher education institutions are under blockade. High school students have also followed suit, joined by their teachers.
Students announced their demands nearly three months ago, but the government has yet to fulfill them.
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