Writer and member of ProGlas Gojko Božović he stated that he had the impression that the authorities were most comfortable with yes diaspora remain passive when it comes to the election process and any type of political events in Serbia. This is why, as he adds, ProGlas started with a series of tribunes abroad.
In June 2026, the ProGlas initiative launched a tour and a series of forums abroad called "Without you, there is no us", which is intended to connect citizens in the diaspora with social and political currents in Serbia.
Božović told N1 that the reason why they started with this series of tribunes abroad is that the Serbian diaspora is large, and no one addresses them.
"We see that part of society as a great potential. No one addresses them and in a way it is up to the authorities to be passive, not only when it comes to elections, but to be passive when it comes to any events in the country," he said.
However, he points out that the three forums that were held in June in German cities - Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart, showed that the situation has changed.
"Those forums were very well attended. Some people traveled several hundred kilometers and came from other German cities to those forums wanting to hear what was being said there or even to participate in the conversation. Just as the public has become politicized in Serbia - today everyone in Serbia is talking about politics, everyone in Serbia is thinking about politics and changes, and only a few years ago only a small part of the population was thinking about it, and especially talking about it. This is also happening in the diaspora, and it is one of the of the key impressions we took from this meeting with the diaspora in Germany," he states, adding that they follow events, think about the possibilities of change and want to contribute to it in some way.
He reminds that the diaspora was organized during the process of student and civil protests in Serbia and that informal protest support networks were organized in a large number of those cities.
The problem for our dispersed citizens is, as he says, that we have too large a diaspora and too few polling stations where they can exercise their right to vote.
"Voting is most often done in consulates and embassies. There are therefore a small number of polling stations, often even those polling stations are not open everywhere. In addition, there is a whole series of other administrative obstacles that mean that people in the diaspora do not actually have the same right to vote as we who live in Serbia, although the Constitution fully guarantees them that right. Unlike us who, if we are on the electoral roll, do not have to register additionally, they must. If they live in a place that is very far from the polling station place, in the embassy or consulate, they have to collect 100 signatures of people interested in voting in order to secure a polling place in their place," explains Božović.
Despite all these administrative obstacles, they have already, as he says, networked with each other and collected a sufficient number of signatures in some places, on the basis of which the state would have to provide them with a polling station by law. This, as he assesses, shows that the diaspora is now interested in participating in decisions concerning the future and the present of Serbia to a much greater extent than ever before.
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