Collective disobedience

If you need the services of a lawyer these days - you will probably have to wait until March 4th. If you are determined to send your child to school, there is a huge chance that you will encounter deserted corridors and locked doors.

The undeclared three-month state of emergency in Serbia has led to the fact that citizens can currently choose between two free activities. If, for example, you want to go to a protest, there is every chance that the specter of rebellion has arrived in your city. If, on the other hand, you are a supporter of the ruling coalition, do not lose heart - the traveling entourage of the president of Serbia is on a national tour and it is quite possible that they will soon stop by your city, town or village.

This time, the protests are spreading faster than Vučić is able to control - maybe because of that haste, the vehicle of the president of Serbia was speeding at an inappropriate speed when his tire burst, and the tabloids declared it another assassination?

It is difficult to keep track of which places protests are taking place, as well as which schools are in full or partial suspension of work. On February 8, the Archive of Public Meetings announced that out of 168 local governments in Serbia (excluding the territory of Kosovo), the protest regarding the tragedy in Novi Sad was not held in only five municipalities - Ada, Niška Banja, Medveđa, Preševo ​​and Vranjska Banja.

The local population of Mola, a settlement in the municipality of Ada, soon denied the claim that there were no protests in this municipality by sharing photos on social networks. That, at the time of writing, leaves four out of 168 municipalities and cities in Serbia without organized demonstrations. Taking into account the dynamics of events, it is quite possible that this number will further decrease by the time this issue of "Vremena" appears on newsstands.

Thus, in a very short period of time, Serbia went from a sleepy and lethargic state to a state of hyperawakening, which, paradoxically, manifests itself by standing still. What has stopped everything in Serbia so far?

UNEXPECTED REBELLION

However, not everything has stopped, but as time goes on, it functions less and less. It is about unconditional obedience to the ruling party in smaller places. One of the most important features of the current protests, in addition to the unexpected student perseverance, is the fact that they are held every day, even in places where until yesterday it was unthinkable to express dissatisfaction on the street.

For example, student support protests were held in Bosilegrad, where the Serbian Progressive Party won 95 percent of the votes in local elections in June. There is no opposition in the local parliament, 30 mandates were taken by the progressives, and one by the radicals. Surdulica joined the protests, where the ruling coalition won 90 percent of support in the last elections, and the residents of Pećina took to the streets, where the progressives have over 80 percent of the votes.

A good example of the disappearance of fear is the coming out of citizens to protests in Lucani. Although in this place the SNS does not have such convincing support as in the aforementioned municipalities - a paltry 57 percent in the last local elections in 2022 - it is a town of about 3000 inhabitants where almost everyone lives from the "Milan Blagojević - Namenska" factory. At the same time, this place is widely known for having ostracized Milovan Milivojević who, after his son died in this factory, initiated a lawsuit against its managers.

The fact that President Aleksandar Vučić's tour of Serbia is not going very smoothly shows that not everything is so rosy in the ruling electorate. Instead of the protesters being interested in preserving peace and evil students who would destroy the country with protests - which the president is very willing to talk and write about - it turned out that many of them are more interested in their own existence and solving local corruption. That's why the pictures coming from Vučić's stand-ups these days instead of the wonderful land of Oz often show nervous citizens and a president on the edge of patience.

photo: katarina stevanović

SCHOOLS IN SUSPENSION

A somewhat less unexpected, but much more radical rebellion appeared in education. Higher education in Serbia has been at a standstill for more than two months, and what started as a student rebellion soon gained the official support of a large number of professors. The University of Belgrade, as the largest university in Serbia, completely stood behind the demands of the students and refused to negotiate with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, on the end of the blockades.

The serious battle, however, takes place in secondary and primary schools. Although the second semester officially started on January 20 - at least that's what the outgoing Prime Minister Miloš Vučević ordered - a significant number of schools are in complete or partial suspension of classes. The anger of the educators due to the non-respect of the agreement on the equalization of their salary with the average salary in Serbia was mixed with anger due to the violent interruption of the first semester and protests in support of the students; all this has led to the teachers' protests going beyond union issues.

Zoran Stojiljković, a retired professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences and a sociologist, tells "Vreme" that the teachers' rebellion is an indirect consequence of broader civil protests in support of students in blockades.

"Thus, a situation arises where, in branches such as education, the demands go beyond the classic strike demands, which are mainly related to wages, working conditions, and collective bargaining. Then, when it comes to preserving the reputation and preventing further humiliation of the profession, the next step is a kind of self-organization that requires the participation of both graduates and parents," Stojiljković points out.

ENCOURAGING UNIONS

For example, in the territory of Užice and Čačak, almost all high schools and most elementary schools are closed at all, and it has been announced that classes will not start until the students' demands are met. There is no unified list of blocked schools, and "Vreme" learned in a conversation with some educators that they meet in their schools on a weekly basis in order to vote on the further fate of the suspension of work. For now, there are no indications that schools will return to normal, and representatives of the new Association of Striking Schools, based in Čačak, called on all schools in Serbia to suspend classes on February 13 and 14.

Stojiljković explains that the Serbian legislation is quite rigid in terms of protest work stoppages: "The strike law from 1996 practically does not recognize a general strike, nor a solidarity strike that goes beyond the level of one branch. The law expands activities of public interest so much that it either prohibits or severely limits any strike, so all you can do, for example, is to hold a 45-minute class instead of 30 minutes, which in this situation means almost nothing."

Our interlocutor adds that the student rebellion led to the encouragement of the unions. "I hope that the activities on the stage of the employees and their unions will be coordinated," says Stojiljković. "The willingness of trade unions to take to the streets again for any justified reason is increasing. If the students started to ignore the president as unauthorized, I think that the traditional fashion in the trade unions to talk to the president, who is unauthorized, when they have exhausted all other options, will also end," the sociologist says.

GENERAL STRIKE IN ACTION

Educators and students are not the only ones who disobey. It has already been mentioned that lawyers also joined the protests, and on February 3, they announced a one-month work stoppage. This, although partial, is the longest suspension of the work of lawyers since the beginning of 2025.

In the explanation of the decision of the Bar Association of Serbia (AKS), which has around 12000 members, it is stated that "none of the demands of the student protests have been met". They also point to problems from their own profession - they are dissatisfied, among other things, with the work of courts and prosecutor's offices, which ignore "gross violations of citizens' rights" and "tolerate illegalities in the work of judicial, prosecutorial and security officials". One of the lawyers' demands is the dismissal of the Minister of Justice, Maja Popović.

For the first time in history, almost all Belgrade theaters decided not to hold performances for seven days. In the past period, the workers of "Apoteka Beograd" also took to the streets, dissatisfied with the situation in that company. Recently, a protest of some of the Kolubara workers was held in front of the Electric Power Company of Serbia, and some of them threatened to go on strike. For now, however, there is no such strike. Although there have been rumors about a general strike for weeks, Stojiljković explains that this kind of rebellion has never happened in Serbia.

"What resembled it was the turning point in Kolubara in 2000, when the army and the police began to intervene against the miners. Then the unions threatened to stop work. Nevertheless, the strike in public enterprises is taking place in the extreme phase of polarization. It is true that the energy of the protest and the desire to endure nothing more is growing. The myth of a general strike becomes possible as a massive solidarity or warning strike lasting 15 minutes as a mail delivery to the victims, an hour, a day or several days. We already have that in action", Stojiljković points out.

Photo: Milena Vlajić / FoNet

THE SOCIAL CLIMATE IS CHANGING

Doctors in white coats also took to the streets, and the Serbian Medical Association (SLD) officially supported the students' demands. Farmers have been with the students since the very beginning. They protect them with tractors, while at the same time, like educators or lawyers, they fight their own battles. This is precisely the common thread of all protests - although all rebellious structures of society are trying to solve problems at home, they are all united by a broad front of support for young academics and their struggle for a fairer society.

"We are a traditional and rather authoritarian political culture. That kind of culture is now being called into question for the first time", says Stojiljković. "Until now, we have had situations of normalized clientism. It is now becoming undesirable. Supporting student protests, high school student protests, professional associations and trade unions in the media is becoming a desirable social behavior," Stojiljković concludes.

BREAKING THE ILLUSION OF WONDERLAND

Therefore, the stake is high, and for the most part - even though the Minister of Education claims otherwise - secondary and primary education as well. Lawyers are not working either, which effectively blocks the work of almost the entire judiciary. And many other social groups and professions refuse obedience - whether they are pensioners, bikers, farmers, doctors, pharmacists or yesterday's activists of the Serbian Progressive Party. Even SNS voters dare to openly criticize the president and his local kabadahs, and the fact that the president of Serbia tries his hardest to organize a rally in every small city square or in a sports hall shows that Vučić's claims that his popularity is growing day by day are untrue.

Since we have already mentioned the vision of the wonderful land of Oz, we will conclude this text in that manner. Once upon a time, Dorothy arrived at the gates of the Emerald City in her magical slippers, and the Gate Keeper ordered her to put on green glasses so she wouldn't be blinded by the brilliance of its jewels. At the very end of the book, it will turn out that the Emerald City is not so imposing at all, but that it is green only because of green glasses, and that the terrible and powerful Wizard is a frightened trickster hiding behind the curtain. Well, it is not without reason that life imitates art.