Can Serbia's student protests bring about change?

DW (English)

After three months of protests and two high-profile political resignations, protesters in Serbia are determined to continue. So, too, is President Aleksandar Vucic. What are the prospects for real change in Serbia?

Transcript

00:00Exactly three months to the day since 15 people were killed when the canopy at the entrance to Novi Sad railway station collapsed,

00:09tens of thousands of people streamed to the banks of the river Danube in Novi Sad on Saturday,

00:15where protesters were blocking all three bridges in the city.

00:19The protesters say it was corruption at government level that caused the deaths of these 15 people,

00:25and believe that protests can pave the way for a better, more just society.

00:43Saturday's bridge blockade was the latest in a series of protests organized by students,

00:49who have been blocking almost all state universities in Serbia for two months now.

00:54They say they will not back down until their demands are met.

00:59We are looking for primary responsibility, criminal responsibility and political responsibility.

01:04We have seen the resignation of the prime minister and the mayor of Novi Sad, but we have not seen their criminal responsibility.

01:10We are also looking for complete documentation.

01:13We have experts who say that the documentation is not only incomplete, but it has been manipulated.

01:29Now he is part of an informal investigative committee that says it is collecting evidence

01:34that responsibility for the disaster reaches to the highest levels of government.

01:58We are looking for organized criminals, that is the only way to go.

02:01And then we will create a few real culprits, and then everything will collapse like a ball of cardboard.

02:23We need to find a way to institutionalize the crisis.

02:27That is, to get institutional solutions.

02:30One of the ideas that is talked about a lot is some kind of transitional government,

02:34which would be an expert government or a government somehow based on an expert or academic community,

02:41which would be a link with the university.

02:57He is also addressing the protests, which he claims are organized by foreign intelligence agencies.

03:03I will not give up, and there will be no transitional or expert government.

03:08I guarantee you that with my life.

03:13There will be no transitional or expert government, there will be a Serbian government.

03:19Elections can be held, a referendum can be held, democracy, everything.

03:23But the government will not serve anyone else.

03:37The additional problem is that there is no neutral actor who could help and mediate,

03:46as in some situations the European Union could be.

03:49It is now very passive and it seems that it supports the government.

Category

Transcript

Recommended