"Serbia, let's define 'normal' together", began the students in the blockade Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade is calling for a protest on Slavija Square on Saturday (May 23).
Of the student actions that intensified in recent weeks, the most attention was attracted by the pasting of stickers with the inscription "Students are winning", as well as the publication of their "Memorandum about KiM". What is the key motive of the students to organize tomorrow's meeting?
"These are pre-election rallies"
"Although the student movement is not a traditional political party, for some time it has been engaged in activities that are normally carried out by parties in the pre-election campaign - stickers, door-to-door, collecting safe votes and the like," says political scientist Aleksandar Ivković.
"Organizing large gatherings or 'meetings' is part of those activities, and I would interpret the meeting in Slavia in that light." he adds to DW.
The goal of the students, he adds, is "to mobilize supporters and maintain identification between them and the student movement."
"It is proof of the evolution of the student movement in the direction of an actor who is preparing for the elections, because these are no longer protests where something is demanded from the authorities, but pre-election gatherings," emphasizes Ivković.
Historian Dragan Popović also assesses that the meeting at Slavija is "an election campaign activity" and adds that he expects that, after publishing the Memorandum on Kosovo and Metohija, the students will present another segment of their program.
Photo: Petra CvetkovićStudents on a protest walk in Belgrade
Memorandum as a "mainstream position"
A few days ago, the students in the blockade in Kragujevac published a "Memorandum" on Kosovo, which they call an "inalienable and integral part" of Serbia.
"As the city where modern Serbian statehood was founded, Kragujevac has the duty to be the guardian of the sacred values that arose in Kosovo and Metohija, not only on the blood-soaked battlefield, but also on the spiritual horizon," the students stated, among other things.
Photo: FoNet: Branko VučkovićStudent protest in Kragujevac at Sretenje 2026.
Remembering the year 1986
The memorandum reminded some of the Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) from 1986, in which it is emphasized that Serbia is in a subordinate position within the SFRY, as well as that Serbs are not equal to citizens of other nationalities.
Part of society believed that with that document, SANU supported the strengthening of Serbian nationalism, one of the elements that led to the wars of the 1990s.
Popović points out that the positions on Kosovo, presented in the Memorandum, are not his positions, but that he does not see that document "as a turn anywhere, not even to the right."
"What is more problematic than the position on Kosovo as part of Serbia is the language that was used, which includes the name 'memorandum'. However, I believe that it is good that this position came out. It is useful for students and everyone else to see that there are different positions and that sensitive topics will be on the agenda after the fall of the autocratic regime," says Popović.
Source: FoNet/APStudents, protest in Niš
Election tactics
When it comes to the elections, Ivkovic says that it would be good for the students to present at least parts of the program on Saturday "because that would create the impression that the preparations for the elections have advanced and that the movement is ready for them."
He adds that neither the nationalist nor the liberal element should "take primacy".
"Simply, that's how they will win the most votes. Part of the voters will want a 'pure' liberal or a 'pure' national option and they will vote for opposition parties from one side of the spectrum or the other. I think their campaign will be more focused on justice and life issues, and identity issues will be on the back burner. If that's the case, voter losses at the expense of opposition parties will be smaller."
Although he believes that a joint list could more effectively mobilize voters who are against the government, Ivkovic says that he expects to go to the elections in several columns.
"And in that scenario, the opponents of the government can collectively win more votes than the government. But, in order to change the government, it is necessary that there is no mutual attack in the campaign, that no list falls below the census and, in the end, they agree to jointly form a majority after the election."
And Popović estimates that "the student list will take away almost all the anti-regime votes."
"I would like politicians who are capable, hardworking and represent the values that are close to me to support the student list. That support makes sense if it is active, which means constant work in the field and presenting your policy to the people that the student list has mobilized."
This, he points out, would be an opportunity to "counter the regime's propaganda that opposition members are incompetent and a bad alternative."
"Thus, part of the politicians who are capable and worthy of support would not only survive after the elections, but would also be a significant political factor, regardless of the fact that they are not in the parliament. After all, after the fall of the Vučić regime, there will be elections for the province, local governments, and probably soon new, real multi-party elections for the parliament," concludes Dragan Popović for DW.
Photo: Jaroslav BulavinPhoto that went around the world - last year's protest in Slavia
The opposition is neither here nor there.
As it is clear that the students are campaigning, and so far they have strictly ruled out the possibility of forming a joint list with the opposition, the opposition parties are in an awkward position.
Among the opposition parties, the Green-Left Front has for now confirmed the attendance at the rally in Slavija, which recently announced that it will support the student list if the elections are held in June or July.
The president of the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG), Pavle Grbović, told Nova that he would come to the protest, but he also added that the PSG does not invite gatherings in the organization of which it does not participate, so it is up to the members to decide whether they want to come. The leader of the National Movement of Serbia, Miroslav Aleksić, said that his party supports "every protest against the regime".
The students are "unconditionally" supported by the Democratic Party and the non-parliamentary Move-Change and Dveri Movement.
Part of the pro-European opposition, including the PSG and the Freedom and Justice Party, has not yet definitively determined whether and how it will participate in the elections or consider supporting the student list. DW asked the two parties when a decision can be expected and what it will depend on, but the answers were not received by the time this text was published.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, in a series of speculations about the date of the special elections, presented the latest on Thursday (May 21) - he now says that the elections will be held from the end of September to the middle of November this year.
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