After the largest gathering in the history of Serbia, which they organized on March 15, 2025, was over "sonic cannon" attack on citizens, and on the second, on June 28, a considerable number of citizens were disappointed by their alleged "turn to the right", students invited them to gather again in as large a number as possible on May 23 in Slavija.
The interlocutors of "Vremen" believe that the expectations regarding the meeting on May 23 are very varied, and they point out that it is very difficult to know what that meeting could bring.
While the director of the Center for Practical Politics, Dragan Popoviฤ, estimates that the students limit it in order to maintain their energy and be ready for an active pre-election campaign, sociologist Ivan ลฝivkov hopes that at that gathering, citizens will get an answer who are at least some of the candidates on the announced student list.
"One should not expect anything special from the meeting on May 23. It is another of the regular events that students organize from time to time in order to maintain their energy and to be ready for an active election campaign," Popoviฤ told "Vreme".
He adds that all student protests are also a reminder of how and on what foundations the student movement was created, so he thinks that this is still an idea.
Photo: CrtaSlavija, Belgrade - March 15, 2025, during 15 minutes of silence
Convener to reveal face
On the other hand, Ivan ลฝivkov reminds that the meeting on May 23 was not scheduled for any specific reason.
"I hope that the citizens will get an answer to the question of who are the representatives of the student movement and who will be at least some of the candidates on the announced student list, because such gatherings are already pre-election gatherings of support for a political actor. It is high time that the convener reveals his face," ลฝivkov told "Vreme".
He emphasizes that such expectations should be the expectations of a "mature political public, but the big question is whether we have a mature political public."
"According to many things that we have seen in the past year, we do not have a mature political public, but we love those mystical movements in which we can load our best wishes, and when these movements are defined and show their faces, we tend to be very disappointed, to look for a hair in the egg and find a hundred and one flaws in everyone", ลฝivkov assesses.
Photo: FoNetProtest in Belgrade on March 15th
Some people expect unrealistic things
When asked how to avoid the defeatism that arose among the public after nothing major had happened since March 15, Dragan Popoviฤ pointed out that it is not easy to do.
"Defeatism will always be present in part of the public, because people have different expectations, but I think it is good to communicate with people before the meetings about what is realistic and what is not. In terms of building democracy, we are still a young political society, so a part of the people here expect things that are not realistic," says Popoviฤ, noting that we never understand the expectation that a meeting will solve something.
"It's hard to expect that, unless you advocate violence, but I don't think that's the way to go and it doesn't solve anything, nor is it realistic to change the government through violence. Gatherings and protests serve to build an atmosphere of pressure on the government, and that in less extraordinary circumstances than ours," emphasizes Popoviฤ.
At the same time, ลฝivkov assesses that on March 15, many people went home disappointed, because "the great mantra that was valid in Serbia until then has fallen" - that it is enough to gather a critical mass for changes to occur.
"At that time, a never-larger crowd gathered, and there was no change of government. Many left disappointed not only because the government did not change revolutionary that day, but also because it was not heard clearly and loudly from the stage: 'We want Aleksandar Vuฤiฤ to leave the head of this country'. I believe that 99 percent of those who gathered that day wanted to hear that sentence from the center stage," believes ลฝivkov.
Comparing the rallies on March 15 and June 28, 2025, ลฝivkov points out that there is a big difference between them.
"At the meeting on March 15, the student movement did not mention the demand for elections and did not define itself as a political actor who will participate in the elections. Everyone interested in protesting against the government of Aleksandar Vuฤiฤ came to that meeting. By June 28, the change occurred that the students announced a request for extraordinary parliamentary elections," says ลฝivkov.
Photo: FoNet/Marko Dragoslaviฤ/FoNetProtest on March 15th in Belgrade
There will be no mention of the European Union
He believes that this is why at the meeting on June 28, perhaps for the first time, the public closely followed who would appear on the podium, because they wanted to see which new factor would participate in the elections.
"That's where the reactions came from, first of all to Professor Milo Lompar's speech, but I'll remind you that Rector Vladan ฤokiฤ, who today the public perceives as a pro-EU factor within the student movement, also addressed. So, even then it was balanced, but the public didn't get an answer about who the student representatives really are, so now, a year later, it's high time to define it, because there is obviously a need on the non-regime side for everyone's cooperation, since the advantage in public opinion is not that big and comfortable that it should be wasted," says Zhivkov.
Despite the disappointment of a part of the pro-European public, Popoviฤ believes that there will be no emphasis on the European Union at the meeting on May 23, because it is "not an issue relevant to this kind of atmosphere in society."
"I don't believe that the EU will be mentioned at all. The students will try to maintain the ideological minimum, i.e. what they defined at the very start. When you bring speakers they have the freedom to say what they want and can go to one side or the other, but this is leveled over time through the activities and work on the ground of the student movement. Although it is very challenging to hold the middle ground and not run into those highly explosive topics that mostly make people quarrel - at least in this situation, when there is no freedom of the media and when there is no free public opinion "For now, the student movement manages to maintain that equidistance and moves within the red lines that can satisfy the majority of people," says Popoviฤ.
Photo: Vladislav MiliฤProtest on March 15, 2025
Without radical measures by the regime
Finally, when it comes to the possible response to the gathering on May 23, Popoviฤ points out that "we can expect anything from the regime."
"We can expect all kinds of things, especially since key decisions are made in the head of one person, and on the other hand, there is also the element that his decisions should be implemented by people who very often have weak intellectual capacities - those who lead the beating or police units. Although it is always on the verge of conflict, past experience shows us that the student-citizen movement is quite good at preventing major incidents and controlling the situation well even when the crowd is huge, as was the case on March 15. There is no special preparation except for people who came at your invitation, keep them disciplined as much as possible and convince them to fall prey to provocations as little as possible," concludes Popoviฤ.
ลฝivkov believes that the authorities, as in previous similar situations, will try in every way to prevent the arrival of a larger number of people to Slavia.
"I don't know if it will be some kind of imaginary bomb in rail traffic again, because it turned out that the majority of citizens do not come by rail, and such attempts did not reduce the number of people gathered. Maybe they will change their tactics, so there will be construction work and closed bridges, or searches. They will come up with something to make it difficult for people to come, but I don't expect them to take any radical steps, because escalation is not in their favor, so it will pass with lower-intensity tensions, but without major problems." Zhivkov believes.
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