Six months of unrest in Serbia: Calls for a snap election as protests enter “new phase”

Introduction

Civic space is crumbling as government attempts to subdue biggest protests in a generation

As reported in the previous CIVICUS Monitor update, a tragic accident occurred on 1st November 2024 in Novi Sad, Serbia's second-largest city. An outdoor canopy at a recently renovated railway station collapsed, killing 16 people, including children, and gravely injuring two others. This triggered a mass protest movement in which citizens mobilised to demand accountability from the authorities for the collapse, which they blame on corruption and shoddy renovation work.

Initially, authorities met the protests with arrests and excessive force, but police later withdrew, creating a vacuum in which violence against demonstrators escalated unchecked.

On 22nd November 2024, students and professors at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade were attacked as they held a silent vigil for the victims, hospitalising a student and injuring a journalist. In response, students at all public universities launched an indefinite strike, boycotting classes and occupying university buildings until their demands - focused on accountability for the collapse and attacks on demonstrators - are met.

Protests continue almost daily. In the six months since the accident, protests have taken place in at least 400 cities and towns, with some drawing tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of participants. The movement has strong backing from trade unions, farmers, bar associations, private businesses, and self-organised citizens, with analysts calling it the biggest in the country in decades.

However, civic space is rapidly shrinking as authorities crack down—students, professors, and outspoken supporters face intimidation, smear campaigns, and dismissal from their jobs. Civil society observers report a rise in arbitrary arrests, illegal surveillance, and leaks of personal data. Organisations are facing office raids and investigations on fabricated charges.

New government voted in as protests continue; striking students call for new elections

On the night of 27th January 2025, a group of ruling party activists attacked a female student with baseball bats, leaving her hospitalised. Following news of this attack, the prime minister resigned the next day. A new, reconstituted government led by university professor and endocrinologist Đuro Macut was voted in on 16th April 2025.

Apart from the prime minister, who is largely seen as a figurehead, while the real power lies in the hands of President Aleksandar Vučić, the reconstitution brought hardly any changes. Out of the 30 ministers in the new government, 22 are from the previous administration and mostly head the same ministries. However, three key sectors – education, justice and the media – were entrusted to new, particularly controversial figures.

Dejan Vuk Stanković, professor at the Faculty of Education and political analyst in pro-government media, was appointed head of the Ministry of Education. He had been consistently critical of the protests in his media appearances, dismissing them as political and aimed at overthrowing the “legitimate and legally elected government”. In one interview, he claimed he would take a harder stance and not shy away from repressive measures to end the student strike – referencing “the methods of [former UK Prime Minister] Margaret Thatcher”, known for her brutal suppression of a nationwide miners’ strike in the 1980s and for crushing the trade union movement in the country, which she had labelled the “enemy within.”

The Ministry of Justice was entrusted to Nenad Vujić, the head of the Judicial Academy, a state-run institution for the training of judicial and prosecutorial staff. In 2023, a criminal complaint was filed against Vujić by the State Audit Office in connection with the mismanagement of funds found during an audit of the Academy’s finances. Meanwhile, Boris Bratina, a former member of the Board of Directors of the far-right political organisation SNP 1389, was appointed Minister of Information and Telecommunications.

With these appointments to what the media in the country – both pro-government and opposition-aligned – have deemed a “war cabinet”, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (Srpska napredna stranka - SNS) and President Vučić seem determined to extinguish the protest movement through further repression. However, the protesters have vowed to press on regardless. On 5th May 2025, the student protesters announced a “new phase” of the movement: a call for snap parliamentary elections, where all supporters would rally behind a joint opposition ticket, which would be endorsed by the striking students.

Freedom of association

Pressures on trade unions, universities and public sector workers

After the tragic canopy collapse in November 2024, Serbia saw a wave of strikes, with workers from various sectors joining the student protest movement in demanding accountability and systemic change.

The initial wave of strikes began in Belgrade and Požarevac, where some schools, acting within their legal obligation to maintain a minimum work process, shortened classes to 30 minutes. The strikes soon spread nationwide. Although the second semester was scheduled to begin on 20th January, many primary and secondary school educators refused to resume teaching. At the same time, student strikes and physical blockades had already been under way at universities since late November, with support from professors and university administrators. Together, these actions brought the education system to a standstill, until the protesters’ demands are met.

As the strikes spread, government officials stepped up their efforts to suppress them. Former Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and the then Minister of Education Slavica Đukić Dejanović announced school inspections, a threat that was quickly realised. According to media reports, by 23rd January, inspections had taken place in 84 schools, and disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against dozens of educators. In Zrenjanin, two inspectors refused to carry out their orders and published an open letter denouncing the “use of inspection powers to intimidate and put pressure on students and education staff.”

The Minister of Education also issued a directive instructing schools to reduce the salaries of striking staff. President Aleksandar Vučić further escalated pressure during a televised address on 10th February, warning teachers: “In January, you all received your full salaries, and for February it will be how much you worked.” The February wages of striking teachers were indeed reduced by 50 or even 100 percent. In addition, the government amended the Decree on the Norms and Standards of University Working Conditions, which significantly cut the salaries of professors and other faculty. In March, professors from the University of Belgrade filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court seeking to block its implementation. In the meantime, several initiatives have been launched to collect financial support for teachers whose salaries have been cut. As of May, a solidarity network set up by an informal group of IT professionals has collected over 100 million RSD (about one million USD) for the cause.

Alongside financial sanctions, educators faced various forms of intimidation. On 20th January, police attempted to prevent teachers from traveling to a protest in Belgrade, violating their freedom of movement and assembly, as well as their right to strike. On 22nd January, at the Seventh Belgrade High School, where classes had been suspended, individuals claiming to represent the local municipality arrived unannounced to question the director about the situation, in what was perceived as an attempt to intimidate staff. At one elementary school in the capital, a man claiming to be a parent entered the building and threatened to kill the teachers. Elsewhere in Serbia, teachers also received private threats via phone calls, while both educators and students were routinely targeted in the tabloid media.

Outside the education sector, workers and trade unionists who expressed support for the protests were similarly targeted. In Novi Sad, five employees of the Institute for Health Protection of Employees of “Serbian Railways” were suspended for participating in a commemorative action for the victims of the canopy collapse. Workers in the energy sector also came under pressure. One Kolubara mining basin employee was detained over a Facebook post urging colleagues to strike. Both the commissioner of the EPS “Nezavisnost” union, Dragoslav Ljubičić, and a leader of the “Jedinstvo Kolubara” working group received written warnings ahead of dismissal. On 12th February, these warnings were acted upon: Ljubičić was dismissed, followed shortly after by the dismissal of the second union leader. Ljubičić has since filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement. Several other dismissals have been reported in public institutions, all linked to employee support for the protests.

The legal profession also came under political pressure. Bar associations staged several strikes over the six-month protest period, and openly supported the movement by donating supplies and sleeping bags to law students. On 22nd March, President Vučić publicly criticised the judicial system for its perceived leniency, declaring that “prosecutors who don’t protect law and order will be replaced.” In response, over 500 judicial employees signed a joint statement condemning the President’s remarks and demanded an urgent meeting of the High Prosecutorial Council, a thus far unprecedented show of resistance and solidarity from within the judiciary.

Civil society targeted by raids, investigations and accusations of attempting a “colour revolution”

Since the beginning of the protests, the authorities have tried to discredit the movement with misinformation and smear campaigns, which have been amplified and spread by pro-government tabloids. The leaderless nature of the student protests posed a challenge for the ruling party, as there were no clear targets for personal attacks. Despite this, they singled out and smeared outspoken students. Unable to undermine the movement directly, the government shifted blame to familiar “enemies,” accusing non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of orchestrating the protests as part of a foreign-backed plot to overthrow Vučić. Officials repeatedly claimed this was an attempted “colour revolution” supported by foreign powers.

Building on this narrative, pro-government media intensified their campaign by publishing numerous articles directly targeting organisations that work on democracy, human rights, transparency, and electoral reform. The civil society organisation Civic Initiatives has been accused of organising the protests and attempting to seize power in the country through their affiliation with ProGlas – a platform of academics and public figures who are openly critical of the government – while its executive director has been branded the leader of an “extremist organisation” and labelled a “foreign agent.” Alarmingly, these accusations have been echoed by government officials themselves. The targeting of Civic Initiatives’ director Maja Stojanović and her family prompted a public response from the National Convention on the EU and several NGOs. Others, including CRTA and the Trag Foundation, have also been singled out. Notably, Vukosava Crnjanski Sabović of CRTA (Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability) and Biljana Dakić Đorđević—the former head of the Trag Foundation—have been named directly. Tabloids like Alo have published inflammatory and false claims, including allegations that the Trag Foundation is financing the protests with “dirty drug money.”

On 29th November 2024, the Socialist Movement, a satellite party in the ruling coalition led by Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, submitted a bill to the Serbian National Assembly on a special register for “foreign agents”. The proposed bill would impose restrictions on the activities of NGOs funded from abroad, in line with the infamous Russian legislation adopted in 2012, as well as laws more recently passed in Georgia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska entity. On 11th December, Vučić announced that he would not endorse the law if it were passed, although he claimed it had broad support in his ruling Serbian Progressive Party. Although the bill was not formally withdrawn, it did not move forward in the parliamentary process after this announcement.

On 6th February 2025, it became known that anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism authorities had been investigating the private accounts of prominent activists (including those from Civic Initiatives and ProGlas, among others) on unclear grounds. This is not the first time that the Administration for the Prevention of Money-Laundering has been accused of abusing its authority and acting on politically-motivated grounds. In July 2020, documents were leaked to the media showing that the authority had requested access to the banking data of 20 individuals and 37 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including a number of investigative media and high-profile human rights organisations. In November of the same year, four UN Special Rapporteurs condemned this as a misuse of anti-terrorist provisions intended to chill free expression.

On 25th February, police raided the offices of five civil society organisations, announcing an investigation into alleged money laundering and “misuse of American taxpayer funds” based on public statements against USAID made by US officials. According to Civic Initiatives, one of the targeted groups, 20 police officers - some armed - searched their office without a court order, detaining staff for 14 hours and seizing financial records. Another organisation, CRTA, was raided for 28 hours, with police requesting they turn over 8,500 pages of project documents. Although some of the representatives of the civil society organisations were summoned for questioning by the public prosecutor’s office following the raids, the current status of the criminal charges against them is unclear and the case does not appear to have progressed.

Six activists remain detained following their arrest ahead of largest protest to date

On 14th March, six people were arrested in Novi Sad ahead of a major demonstration, following the secret recording and public broadcast of a meeting between members of the activist youth group STAV (Studenti protiv autoritarne vlasti – Students against the authoritarian government) and the opposition party Movement of Free Citizens (Pokret slobodnih građana – PSG) at the party’s Novi Sad headquarters.

The night before the arrests, five pro-government TV channels aired a special joint broadcast of the recording, presenting it as evidence that the opposition and protest organisers were plotting “a civil war,” “bloodshed,” and a “coup d'état.” In the recording, the activists are heard discussing strategies to steer the movement towards demanding the formation of a transitional government—by initiating chants or strategically placing signs and banners in the crowd. They also discussed more extreme measures, including plans to storm the headquarters of the public broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), and take control of the broadcast. At points, they appear to be encouraging or vaguely threatening to incite incidents or confrontations at the protests in order to radicalise the movement.

Twelve activists were present at the meeting and identified during the broadcast. Of these, six were arrested and placed in 30-day pre-trial detention, which was extended for another 30 days on 11th April. They face charges of “preparing an act against the constitutional order,” a serious offence carrying a prison sentence of up to five years. Arrest warrants have been issued for the remaining six activists who were abroad at the time and will be executed upon their return to Serbia. The authorities have searched the homes of all twelve activists.

The proceedings against the group have been criticised as politically motivated and highly irregular. The defence lawyer for one detainee stated that the public prosecutor's office would not allow counsel to inspect the case files. Defence counsel also requested the suppression of the recording, which remains the prosecution’s only evidence, as it claims that it was made unlawfully – a request that the presiding judge rejected. According to the activists’ defence team, the wiretapping was carried out without court approval, at the direct request of the head of the Security Intelligence Agency (Bezbednosno informativna agencija – BIA), Vladimir Orlić, a political appointee and a high-ranking member of the ruling party. The authorities have denied this and claimed that the recording was made by one of the participants in the meeting, who then passed it on to police. The lawyers also explained that the recording and the case files were classified, with the lawyers having to sign documents restricting them from disclosing information about the case, even though the secret recording had already been circulated by the tabloid media before the arrests.

More than 30 civil society organisations have signed a joint statement condemning what they describe as the politically motivated arrests and coordinated media smear campaign. They called on international bodies to support the detainees and criticised the charges, noting that no action had been taken to actually realise the controversial ideas expressed during the meeting.

On 6th May, police summoned two activists for questioning after they stencilled graffiti supporting the detainees on the Security Information Agency building a few days earlier. As no reason was initially provided for the summons, the activists believe it was intended as a form of pressure and intimidation. They expect to face misdemeanour charges for the graffiti but maintain that their actions were justified.

On 12th May, the Novi Sad Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment in the case, requesting the extension of pre-trial detention for the six activists already in custody and a judgement in absentia for the six activists abroad, as well as the maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment for all those involved. On 13th May, pre-trial detention for the activists was extended for another 30 days, prompting one of them, PSG activist and high school sociology teacher Marija Vasić, to begin a hunger strike. After refusing food and water for 48 hours, she was transported to a prison hospital in Belgrade to receive urgent medical treatment.

Citizens and students have been blockading the court building in Novi Sad since the morning of 15th May in protest against the indictment and the continued detention of the activists. Protest rallies were also held in front of the courts in other Serbian cities as a sign of solidarity, but the blockades in Niš, Kragujevac and Belgrade ended the same day. Multiple confrontations between police and demonstrators were recorded in Novi Sad on 15th and 16th May, with security forces using physical force and pepper spray to push through the blockades and escort employees into the building. Photojournalist Gavrilo Andrić was briefly detained on the morning of 16th May, before being released after what police described as an “identity check.”

Freedom of peaceful assembly

Initially, the authorities cracked down on the protests with arrests and excessive force, but the police later withdrew, creating a vacuum in which violence against protesters escalated uncontrollably. After several major incidents, including young female students suffering serious physical injuries, the Ministry of the Interior significantly increased its presence at protests and blockades. In response to public outrage, the traffic police began to provide additional security for the protests in addition to plainclothes police officers.

Attacks and violence against protesters

Shortly after the railway station disaster, citizens across Serbia began holding daily 15-minute silent vigils, blocking traffic from 11:52 to 12:07 in memory of the 15 victims killed in the collapse. Following the death of another young man on 21st March 2025, who had been injured in the incident, the vigils were extended to 16 minutes.

Numerous attacks on students and citizens taking part in the blockades have been recorded during the six months of protests. According to the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Serbia (CINS), over 90 instances of attacks on protesters were recorded from 22nd November 2024 through 6th May 2025. Protesters were subjected to both physical and verbal abuse, with vehicles frequently driving through the crowds, in some cases causing serious injuries. High-ranking officials, including the president, appeared to legitimise or even encourage the violence. A leaked recording appeared to show an SNS official instructing party members to provoke confrontations at vigils and film them. This reinforced the impression that many of the attacks were deliberately incited by the ruling party.

Incendiary statements by public figures, leaked recording shows evidence of organised provocation

In one television interview, MP and member of the presidency of the Serbian Progressive Party Vladimir Đukanović stated, “People are resentful [...] they want to snap [the protesters] like twigs. We are barely holding back our membership, who want to get our hands on them and batter them.” Similarly, far-right MP Vojislav Šešelj from the Serbian Radical Party (Srpska radikalna stranka - SRS) criticised the authorities for being “too soft”, claiming that, after the first major motorway blockade, protesters should have been “beaten so severely that such actions would never cross their minds again.”

A number of President Vučić’s statements have also been understood as threatening violence against the protesters. On 31st December 2024, he referenced a faction of the ruling SNS party he called “the loyalists”. He claimed that around 17,000 members, mostly men with “slightly extreme” views, including his own brother, had sworn a “blood oath” to the party in a church ceremony, describing them as “strongly opposed to those who want to stage a colour revolution” and “ready to fight.” On two occasions, Vučić alluded to the “Cobras”, an elite military police unit assigned to his security, claiming they could “scatter” the protesters within seconds if he chose to deploy them.

On 28th November 2024, an audio recording was shared on social media by opposition politician Marinika Tepić, where Damir Zobenica, an SNS official from Novi Sad, can reportedly be heard instructing party members on how to provoke citizens during silent vigils. He is heard saying that this is a “task of great importance”, and urging for people “who are not recognisable, who are not officials” to go to gatherings, express disapproval of the protests and provoke conflict, while filming the scenes and sending the recordings to Zobenica who will then forward them to the media. President Vučić commented on the recording the same day, stating that Zobenica had told him it was a so-called “deepfake” produced by artificial intelligence. However, the fact-checking portal Raskrikavanje made the determination that the recording is likely authentic, based on interviews with three experts. Zobenica eventually resigned from his position as Vice President of the Assembly of Vojvodina and as a member of the provincial parliament two weeks after the video surfaced. However, the criminal complaint against him was dismissed.

Escalating physical attacks on protesters – students, faculty attacked with knives, baseball bats

On 22nd November 2024, masked men attacked students and faculty at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade during a vigil. One student was hospitalised, and a journalist was injured. The four assailants were identified as members of the Serbian Progressive Party: Milija Koldžić (also a member of the Novi Beograd city council), Ivan Stanišić, Aleksandar Jokić, Dušan Kostić, and Milena Aleksić. None of the identified individuals was detained at the scene, and Milija Koldžić was not dismissed from his position in the city assembly.

On 10th December 2024, students taking part in a blockade at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, along with a journalist team from N1 television, were physically attacked by a group of young men reportedly affiliated with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). That same day, during another blockade near the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade, a man exited his vehicle, aggressively confronted one student, and then struck another. Authorities later confirmed that he had been arrested. On 14th March in Obrenovac, an older man assaulted a female student who had been walking from Loznica to Belgrade, attempting to strangle her. The Ministry of the Interior later announced that the attacker would face a misdemeanor charge.

At times, the physical attacks on protesters were particularly serious, including people armed with knives. On 17th December 2024, a former Republika Srpska wartime official during the Bosnian war, Ratko Adžić, threatened high school protesters with a knife. On 17th January, a man brandished a knife at a student in Novi Sad. On 25th January, a knife-wielding man tore down banners at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade. At another protest on 30th March 2025, a woman attacked Natalija Jovanović, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš, with a knife, stabbing her in the hand and threatening to throw hydrochloric acid in her face.

On the night of 27th January 2025, four students were assaulted in two separate incidents in Novi Sad. In the first incident, two medical students were attacked while painting protest stencils on a rubbish bin outside the office of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. The attackers, whom the students claimed had come directly from the party premises, reportedly forced them to delete a video of the incident. Shortly afterwards, a second group of students was attacked, during which a female student was severely beaten. According to witnesses, she was kicked and struck with baseball bats, suffering a broken jaw and requiring hospitalisation. The attackers in both cases were believed to be SNS activists. Following news of the assaults, the prime minister resigned the next day.

Protesters attacked by motorists – cars driving into crowds, causing serious injuries

In the course of the protests, which included daily vigils blocking traffic, numerous attacks on demonstrators by motorists were recorded, often resulting in serious injuries. These attacks were widely seen as part of a wider pattern of intimidation and violence against those taking part in the protest movement.

On 29th November 2024 in Požarevac, a driver struck an elderly protester with his car, proceeding to accelerate after the initial impact and continuing to drive with the man on the hood of the car. In response, President Vučić stated “How the hell do you arrest a man who hasn’t broken the law? That man [the driver] was just going his own way.” His remark was widely interpreted as legitimising violence against protesters.

Similar incidents intensified in the following weeks. On 6th December 2024, a man drove into a group of citizens at a protest, injuring four members of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra; two were hospitalised. On 16th December, a driver ploughed into the crowd gathered in front of the Faculty of Agriculture in Belgrade, striking several people. Another protester was hit on 19th December during a blockade outside the Faculty of Pharmacy.

On 22nd December, following a large protest at Slavija Square, a taxi driver struck a young man and fled the scene. On 27th December, a woman drove off with a student on the hood of her car during a blockade at the Faculty of Economics. She fled the scene, while the student was taken to the emergency room. That same day, further assaults occurred near Kalemegdan and around the Faculties of Veterinary Medicine, Medicine, and Dentistry in Belgrade.

During a protest on New Year’s eve, a white van drove through a crowd in front of the Rectorate building. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. However, on 16th January 2025, a young female student was seriously injured after being struck by a car and carried approximately 30 metres on the hood before falling and hitting her head. Authorities arrested the driver and launched an attempted murder investigation—the first of its kind related to these incidents.

As such attacks became more frequent, prosecutors began pursuing similar charges in subsequent cases. On 24th January, a woman drove into a group of students, injuring two. One of the students hit her head against the kerb and suffered serious head injuries: an epidural haematoma, a skull fracture and a brain contusion. Although prosecutors initially filed attempted murder charges, the indictment was later downgraded on 6th May to a charge of “serious offence against general safety”. On 31st January, another driver injured two women outside the Mental Health Institute during a protest; in that case, prosecutors again filed attempted murder charges.

Detention of protesters

The rising number of arrests and detentions of citizens connected to the anti-corruption protests is particularly concerning. According to data from the CSO Civic Initiatives, between 3rd November 2024 and 23rd March 2025, 96 individuals—including citizens, students, activists, and opposition politicians—were arrested or detained in relation to the protests.

Before one of the earliest protests in Novi Sad on 8th November 2024, activists Mila Pajić and Doroteja Antić were detained. Six unidentified men, later revealed to be members of the security services, approached them. The activists refused to accompany them, as they could not clearly see any police insignia or badge numbers. In response, the men aggressively forced them into an unmarked black vehicle. The activists described the incident as a kidnapping, as they did not know who had taken them or where they were being taken.

On the same day, civic activist Miran Pogačar was detained by the Security Information Agency (BIA) shortly before a planned blockade. Nikola Končarević, a protester who had been detained the previous day for allegedly getting into a verbal confrontation with an SNS activist in front of the party’s offices was released prior to the 8th November protest and fined 25,000 RSD (approximately 250 USD) for disturbing public order. Bojan Terzić, a member of the political platform Solidarity, a left-wing opposition party, was held in solitary confinement for 20 hours on suspicion of damaging property during the 5th November protest. He was released after authorities found no evidence to support the charge. On 20th November, Pavle Cicvarić, a student and activist, was detained when he tried to enter the rectorate of the University of Belgrade.

With the start of the silent vigils later in November and a reduced police presence, confrontations between police and demonstrators became less frequent. However, over the six months of protests, several more radical demonstrations resulted in clashes with the police and the arrest of participants.

Beginning on 19th November, opposition MPs and councillors blockaded the Novi Sad Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office for several days. Each day saw scuffles with riot police guarding the building, during which MPs were physically pushed. One MP was arrested, and a criminal complaint was filed against him for allegedly assaulting a police officer. On 21st November, an elderly man was arrested at the same protest for spraying pepper spray at an officer. The 74-year-old pensioner was reportedly beaten at the police station, sustaining injuries that required surgery; one of his testicles was amputated as a result.

On 6th March 2025, demonstrators threw eggs and red paint at the Belgrade Assembly building during a session at which budget revisions for public utility companies and new urban planning regulations were adopted. According to a Radio Free Europe (RFE) reporter, a clash broke out between protesters and police. N1 television reported that the confrontation began after private security guards from the assembly building jumped the barriers and physically engaged the crowd. Five activists were detained on charges linked to the violence involving the guards.

Another incident took place on 18th March in front of the City Assembly in Novi Sad. Students attempted to block access to the building overnight but were stopped by the Intervention Police. Video from the scene shows clashes between police and the students and other assembled citizens, with police detaining several individuals in the process.

Tensions escalated again on 28th April at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education in Novi Sad. The confrontation followed a call by the Dean, Patrik Drid, for police to remove student protesters who had occupied the building as part of the ongoing student strike. When Dean Drid tried to enter the building through a back entrance, he was quickly escorted away by protesters while the crowd threw water at him and chanted. The authorities claimed that the dean had been “brutally” attacked and they condemned the incident, referring to the protesters’ actions as “lynching” and “terrorism”. A student at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, Veljko Petrović, was arrested on charges of allegedly physically assaulting the dean before being released on 29th April, with the courts twice rejecting the prosecution’s request to remand him in custody, most recently on 13th May.

Footage posted on social media showed police beating demonstrators with batons, shoving them with shields, and using pepper spray. Several people were injured in the police operation, including students, professors and opposition activists. Shortly afterwards, the names of those who had sought medical treatment were leaked to the pro-government tabloid Informer, prompting sharp condemnation from the student movement.

Intimidation by security services

Students and their families were subjected to a pattern of intimidation by state security services aimed at deterring further protest participation. Students involved in the blockades were repeatedly called into the BIA premises for so-called “informational interviews” without written summonses, where they were threatened with arrest if they continued participating in protests. Some received calls from hidden numbers by individuals claiming to be BIA agents, who warned them to end their involvement or face consequences. Filip Ubović, a fourth-year student at the Faculty of Organisational Sciences, received one such call. The caller, who claimed to be a police inspector, told him he would be beaten up if he didn’t stop participating in the blockades, making ominous references to his family and the town they live in.

Security agents also intimidated students’ families. The mother of a law student in Novi Sad was approached at her workplace by two BIA agents, who initiated what they described as a “friendly and unofficial” conversation. They told her that they had received information that her son and his fellow students had voted in favour of a strike at their faculty the day before and that they had received orders to “try to settle this with the parents.” On 24th December, the BIA contacted the father of Lazar Stojaković, a student at the Faculty of Organisational Sciences who had made a number of media appearances as a representative of the student movement, and advised him that his son should “lay low” regarding his role in the protests. The following day, both Lazar and his father were summoned to the BIA office at the Ministry of the Interior for a “friendly” interview. However, the meeting did not take place because the inspectors who had requested it did not turn up.

In addition to arrests and threats, there were cases of illegal phone surveillance. In December 2024, investigations by the Balkan Investigative Research Network (BIRN) and Amnesty International revealed that the BIA had used spyware to monitor the phones of activists and journalists. Following this report, BIRN reported on a confirmed case in which the spying software was used against a protesting student during the current protests.

On 25th December at the Sava Centre—a convention venue where an SNS rally was under way—a student attempting to interview ruling party supporters alongside another activist was detained without explanation by plainclothes officers. He stated that he was initially held in a room inside the venue before being taken to a police station. There, officers confiscated his phone and extracted all its data using Cellebrite, an Israeli digital forensics tool. The hacking was confirmed after an examination of his phone by experts at Amnesty International’s Security Lab.

The student was reportedly interrogated for six hours about the student movement and pressured to become a police informant. According to him, the inspectors pressured him to enter into a romantic relationship with a foreign national whom they suspected of espionage, and in return offered him financial compensation and a job at the Ministry of Finance. They also tried to force him to sign a document in which he pledged to “secretly help” the authorities and warned him that refusal could result in his prosecution for espionage or other serious crimes. While he was in custody, his parents, unable to contact him, attempted to file a police report. However, they encountered obstruction, as officers in both their home city and in Belgrade refused to accept the report on procedural grounds.

Government-orchestrated counter-protests and attacks on journalists

In March 2025, the Serbian government stepped up its efforts to suppress the ongoing anti-government protests by organising counter-protests and setting up encampments around important state institutions. These sites, which were mainly occupied by supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), were strategically located to block access to government buildings. This led to repeated scuffles between the residents of the encampments and protesting students and passers-by. Journalists from critical media were also harassed and physically prevented from reporting.

On 6th March, a group calling itself “Students Who Want to Learn” announced the setting up of a protest camp in Pionirski Park, directly in front of the Presidency and across from the National Assembly. They claimed their sole demand was for the student strike to end and for university classes to continue. As the site began to rapidly expand, with protective barriers set up around the perimeter by city authorities, mobile toilets provided, and daily police presence, this only reinforced widespread suspicions that the demonstration was orchestrated by the government. Ahead of the major student-led protest planned for 15th March, a trench was dug around the park and tractors were positioned to block access.

Despite attempts to restrict coverage, media reports and footage from the park emerged alleging that the encampment residents comprised members of right-wing groups, TV extras, and public-sector employees. When N1 journalist Mladen Savatović contacted an alleged organiser under the pretext of wanting to participate in the encampment, he uncovered that people were being paid to pose as students, and recorded the woman offering him RSD 8,000 (about USD 80) for a 12-hour shift.

President Aleksandar Vučić escalated the situation when he announced the “largest gathering in the history of Serbia,” to be held between 11th and 13th April. This government-sponsored rally was intended as a direct response to the demands of the student protest movement. In preparation, new tents were set up in front of the National Assembly, and ahead of 15th April, the date of the vote on the newly formed government, the camp was expanded again. The demonstrators gathered in the tents to chant their support for President Vučić and jeer at the opposition. More tents were added in the following weeks, with another government-orchestrated gathering attempting to drown out the simultaneous student and trade union protests on International Workers’ Day, 1st May.

Numerous incidents of harassment and violence against journalists reporting from the pro-government camps were recorded. On 8th March, opposition politician and KTV journalist Nemanja Šarović was assaulted while interviewing alleged student protesters in front of the Presidency. Participants knocked the microphone from his hand, poured coffee on him, and despite being attacked, Šarović was the one forcibly removed by police. When supporters gathered at the police station to demand his release, another activist, Srđan Žunić, was arrested after urging an officer to lower his weapon. Charged with obstructing the work of a police officer, Žunić was held in pre-trial detention for 54 days before being released on 5th May. Danas journalist Vojin Radovanović also reported being threatened with detention by a police officer while filming Šarović’s arrest. Šarović was detained again on 14th March after asking police about tractors illegally parked around Pionirski Park.

The day before, a group of around 100 men, including SNS officials from Novi Sad, staged a blockade of the building housing the N1 television editorial office. Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin publicly admitted that his Socialist Movement was responsible for the blockade, justifying it as a response to N1’s critical reporting on student protests and calling the channel part of a biased media landscape that “rewards hatred” towards Vučić.

On 18th March, Željko Latas, an opposition city councillor belonging to the Move-Change (Kreni-Promeni) movement, entered the Pionirski Park camp and was involved in an altercation with the residents, with pro-government media accusing him of assaulting and pepper-spraying one of the students. He maintained that he had acted in self-defence when they tried to seize his phone, with video evidence supporting his claim. Latas was detained before being released the next day.

On 28th March, N1 journalist Miodrag Sovilj and his team were obstructed while reporting from Pionirski Park. After President Vučić announced a major SNS rally, they visited the park and were told they were not welcome. One man explicitly stated, “No one from N1 is welcome,” while police present failed to intervene.

On 15th April, an Istinomer journalist was physically attacked in front of the National Assembly while attempting to identify the people occupying the tents.

On 22nd April, Insajder journalist Irena Stević and her team were denied entry to Pionirski Park while attempting to report on the tents. Unidentified men prevented them from entering, and although police on site claimed the park was open to the public, they took no action. According to the SafeJournalists Network, one of the men called someone after asking which media outlet they represented, then told them they could not enter.

Alleged use of a sonic weapon against protesters

One of the largest public gatherings in Serbia in recent decades took place in Belgrade on Saturday, 15th March, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants from across the country.

In the lead-up to the protest, access to Belgrade from other parts of Serbia was significantly restricted, prompting accusations that authorities were attempting to disrupt the gathering. In the early hours of 14th March, the national railway operator, Srbijavoz, announced a temporary suspension of all intercity rail traffic across Serbia. The move followed an anonymous tip about explosives on trains, received shortly after midnight. Although the police were notified about the threat, Srbijavoz suspended services before receiving formal instructions from the authorities, citing passenger and staff safety. Rail traffic resumed on 16th March, once security checks had been completed.

In parallel, numerous bus operators cancelled intercity routes to Belgrade on 14th and 15th March. Operators cited concerns over passenger safety or the risk of unrest in the capital. On the day of the protest, 15th March, all public transport in Belgrade was suspended, including both city-owned vehicles and private carriers. A union representative from the Belgrade public transit authority stated that the order to withdraw vehicles was issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The most serious incident during the protest occurred at 7:11 PM and involved a sonic crowd-control device or sound cannon allegedly being used to disperse the crowd. The protest had been proceeding peacefully throughout the day, and at that moment a 15-minute silence was being observed to honour the victims of the roof collapse in Novi Sad. The silence was abruptly disrupted by a loud noise, described by many attendees as resembling the sound of a low-flying aircraft or a fast-approaching vehicle, followed by a wave of heat or pressure. This triggered panic and confusion, leading to a stampede.

A significant number of protestors sought medical assistance after reporting symptoms including nausea, headaches, hearing loss, rapid heartbeat, anxiety, and disorientation. A group of NGOs launched an initiative to collect testimonies, receiving over 3,000 submissions from individuals who were present.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs denied using any such equipment and accused protestors of spreading false information, despite the emergence of medical documentation and video footage from the scene. Images and recordings showed a device mounted on a Gendarmerie vehicle parked near the National Assembly. Although officials initially denied that this technology was in use in Serbia, the Minister of the Interior later acknowledged that an LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) was in police possession, while insisting it had not been activated during the protest.

The First Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office stated there was no evidence that a sound cannon had been deployed and announced that it would investigate the causes of the incident. At the same time, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office directed an inquiry into individuals accused of spreading panic. In response to concerns raised by civil society organisations, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) formally requested an explanation from the Serbian Government, setting a deadline of 31st March. On 30th April, the ECHR announced it had granted the complainants’ requests for an interim measure, ordering Serbian authorities to prevent any potential use of sound devices for crowd control in the future, but without prejudice as to whether the device had actually been used on the day in question.

In parallel, Miloš Vučević, the former prime minister who resigned in January, announced he had signed official documents calling on the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации – FSB) to come to Serbia and conduct an independent investigation into whether sonic weapons were used during the protest. On 16th April, the Security Intelligence Agency published a report attributed to the FSB’s investigators on its website. The report “categorically” concludes that no acoustic weapons were used, claiming instead that “there is public evidence of a staged provocation involving a specially prepared group of people and the use of smartphones to synchronise movements, while imitating the effect of an acoustic cannon and also blocking rescue services.”

At approximately the same time as the reported sound incident, objects including stones and bottles were thrown at demonstrators from Pionirski Park, where supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party had gathered in their counter-protest encampment. Several other incidents occurred on the day of the protests. Police searched the vehicle of Novica Antić, former president of the Military Union, detaining a person who was travelling with him. Antić had previously been imprisoned and prosecuted for publicly criticising the Serbian Armed Forces. On the morning of the protest, a man drove through a crowd of people heading to the demonstration and injured three people. At the demonstration itself, the president of the CSO Krokodil, Vladimir Arsenijević, reported harassment from other protest participants because he was carrying Ukrainian and Palestinian flags. A video circulating on social media from the evening of the protest shows a group of people punching and kicking a young man lying on the ground, who is then taken away in an ambulance. According to the authorities, the incident was the result of an argument between the protesters.

President Aleksandar Vučić stated that 22 people were detained on the day of the protest. A lawyer representing two detainees reported being physically and verbally assaulted by police officers at the station, denied access to her clients, and forcibly removed. She sustained a minor arm injury.

Freedom of expression

Press under threat: attacks on journalists, intimidation and restrictions

Over the past six months, as protests have continued across Serbia, journalists have been repeatedly subjected to physical attacks, intimidation and restrictions when trying to report freely and accurately. Numerous press freedom organisations, including PEN International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the Media Freedom Rapid Response Mechanism have highlighted the deteriorating state of freedom of expression in the country amid the protests, calling on authorities to do more to protect journalists. Below is an overview of some of the incidents that reveal a disturbing pattern of state hostility and societal aggression towards independent media.

Ana Marković, a journalist with the Nova news outlet, was physically assaulted during a silent vigil in front of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts on 22nd November 2024. Her phone was knocked from her hands, and she sustained minor injuries while covering the demonstration.

On 27th November, during a demonstration in Belgrade, N1 journalist Jelena Mirković and her cameraman Aleksandar Cvrkotić were attacked by government supporters. Mirković was struck in the shoulder and had her microphone knocked away, sustaining minor injuries. Cvrkotić's camera was also hit. Both journalists were verbally harassed throughout the assignment.

On 17th January 2025, five journalists — Darko Eker from TV Nova S, Dragana Prica Kovačević and Žarko Bogosavljević from Radio 021, Ksenija Pavkov from N1 television, and Aleksandar Latas from Danas — were attacked by police while reporting on an attempted blockade of the City Hall in Novi Sad. The Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV) reported that police and Gendarmerie officers physically removed the journalists, despite them identifying themselves. Dragana Prica and Ksenija Pavkov were pulled by the arms and pushed towards the exit. Aleksandar Latas was threatened with being "tied up", while Darko Eker was dragged by his equipment backpack. Žarko Bogosavljević was knocked to the ground.

Finance Minister Siniša Mali reportedly physically attacked journalist Danica Ilić on 25th January as she attempted to interview him outside a restaurant in central Belgrade. Ilić, a freelance reporter, stated that Mali reacted to chants in support of the protests by patrons of the restaurant by making an obscene gesture. When she began recording and sought a comment, Mali allegedly snatched her phone, later leaving it in a planter in the street.

On 27th March 2025, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) revealed that two of its journalists were targeted with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware the previous month. The 'one-click attack' required the targets to engage with a malicious link, which they did not do, thereby preventing the infection of their devices. However, the attempt was confirmed by Amnesty International’s cybersecurity experts.

BIRN journalist Saša Dragojlo was physically assaulted on 23rd March while documenting a protest at the Đeram open-air market in Belgrade. The protest, led by local residents, opposed activists from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) who had set up promotional stands in the area.

During an interview on Nova TV on 29th March, Peščanik columnist Dejan Ilić expressed his concerns over Serbia's political crisis, suggesting the potential for violent unrest. He stated: “You have a choice – either you will open the doors for [current government officials] to take refuge, and opening the doors refers to that transitional government, or you will reconcile yourself to the fact that blood will flow in the streets, that we will lose I don’t know how many lives and whose lives, in order to get rid of them.” On 9th April, Ilić received a late-night summons for police questioning without explanation. He was detained on 10th April and later released the same day. The Ministry of Interior announced that he would face charges under Article 343 of the Serbian Criminal Code for allegedly inciting panic.

On 12th April, a team from KTV in Zrenjanin was assaulted while covering a major rally by the ruling SNS in Belgrade. Five members of the team, including opposition politician Nemanja Šarović, who presents the programme, cameraman Siniša Nikšić and technicians Milorad Malešev and Danijel Radić, were attacked. Individuals marked as stewards verbally abused the team. Social media footage showed Šarović being struck with a bottle and the camera being rammed, cutting the broadcast feed.

On the same day, an Al Jazeera crew was interrupted by plainclothes police officers while filming the SNS rally from a private apartment balcony near the Serbian parliament. Officers claimed filming was only permitted from the street level and not from rooftops or terraces.

Also on 12th April, Zoran Strika, deputy editor-in-chief of Radio 021, was assaulted in Novi Sad while documenting an earlier attack on a person recording SNS sympathisers gathering to travel to the rally in Belgrade. As he was filming the scene, one of the assailants grabbed him by the neck and tried to seize his phone. Strika defused the situation by calling out to a local official. Later, as he assisted the original victim, a group of young men stole Strika’s phone and threw it into the Danube.

On 28th April, journalist Žarko Bogosavljević was physically attacked by police despite wearing a press vest. He had been covering the blockade of the Faculty of Physical Education in Novi Sad.

Reprisals against citizens for expressing support for protests

In addition to pressures placed on journalists, private citizens who expressed support for recent protests in Serbia have faced various forms of reprisals, including smear campaigns, threats, questioning by police and dismissal from their jobs.

On multiple occasions, private conversations from messaging apps such as Viber have been published by pro-government media or forwarded to police authorities. In one case reported by BIRN, a mother expressed concerns in a Viber group for parents that her husband was being followed after a Parents’ Council meeting. A fellow parent responded by naming two individuals he believed had followed the man. The following day, police summoned him for questioning. It was later revealed that one of the named individuals was a businessman with ties to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, who had filed a complaint, claiming the message, shared in the parents’ group numbering some 500 people, posed a threat to his safety.

In addition to being forwarded to police and used as grounds for prosecution, private Viber messages from citizens in which they spoke about their support for the protests were also publicised by pro-government media and used to discredit the movement. These included exchanges between parents and teachers, where discussions about attending rallies or supporting the strike were framed as scandalous or inciting misconduct. In one case, a teacher’s message expressing anger towards President Vučić was publicised and criticised by local government officials as a call to violence.

Legal action was also taken against individuals based on comments posted online, particularly when these comments referenced the President. On 15th April, Zoran Đajić, an engineer who had at one point worked on the reconstruction of the railway canopy and had publicly denounced irregularities in the renovation project, was arrested for allegedly threatening President Vučić’s safety. In a social media post, he wrote: “My position is clear – the people should vote for the death penalty for Vučić – I don't want someone to later release him from the asylum just so he can start gathering Nazis and criminals around him again.”

A similar case occurred on 24th April, when a resident of Novi Sad shared a short video of the President speaking, accompanied by the comment: “This is how many lies our dear president has spewed in just this short video. He doesn’t need prison, he needs the electric chair.” He was arrested shortly afterwards and placed under house arrest with electronic monitoring for one month. He was also prohibited from using his phone or the internet. On 12th May, his appeal was upheld and the case was returned to the first-instance court for further review.

Another individual, Njegoš Petrović, was detained for 48 hours after responding to a well-known statement in which President Vučić recalled drinking to celebrate the assassination of then-Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić in 2003. Petrović had written: “God willing, we’ll have something to drink to soon.”

In some cases, family members of those involved in the protests also reported professional repercussions. On 31st January, Biljana Šebek, previously the director of the Belgrade Land Development Agency, said she had been dismissed from her role and reassigned to a lower-level position. She believed the move was linked to her son Pavle Šebek’s participation in student protests and blockades.

Smear campaigns and targeting of protesters

Throughout the duration of the protests, the students and demonstrators have been subjected to a series of smear campaigns, threats and institutional intimidation.

The most egregious attacks have targeted students personally. The pro-government outlet Novosti published photographs of passports belonging to Lazar and Luka Stojaković, students with dual Serbian and Croatian citizenship, insinuating links between the protests and Croatian intelligence services. This publication prompted the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, Milan Marinović, to announce an investigation into who had provided the media with these personal documents. Other pro-regime outlets escalated the harassment, publishing the name and home address of one student protester, which led to direct threats. In Novi Sad, anonymous individuals posted “wanted” posters featuring the personal data of 23 students from the Faculty of Technical Sciences. Disturbingly, this form of intimidation was not confined to anonymous actors — senior officials from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) joined the smear efforts. The mayor of Leskovac, Goran Cvetanović, publicly commented on individual students’ school grades, while the mayor of Kraljevo, Predrag Terzić, posted photos of students with digitally added Nazi and fascist symbols. Terzić accused three students from the University of Novi Sad of being fascists and political activists from “leading anti-Serbian organisations”, effectively inciting violence against them. The mayor of Zaječar, Boško Ničić, also attacked a student via Facebook, joining the wave of verbal harassment initiated by SNS officials.

Alongside the personal targeting of students, pro-government tabloids aggressively pushed harmful narratives against protesters. More than 100 articles spreading unverified claims or hate speech against demonstrators were removed from the websites of Alo, B92, Informer, and Srpski Telegraf. These deletions were ordered by the digital platforms hosting the content due to violations of EU and Serbian media laws, following a reporting campaign by supporters of the protests. Between 22nd November and 17th December 2024, 181 articles related to student-led blockades were published by these outlets. However, after the takedowns, many of the same outlets circumvented compliance by shifting their web hosting to servers operated by state-owned companies.

State media also contributed to the smear campaign. Over nearly three months, the public broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) provided minimal coverage of the protests, mostly in short segments portraying them in a negative light. In one report, the President’s claim that students were being paid to protest was aired without scrutiny. In another, RTS broadcast a statement from Israeli historian Efraim Zuroff, who accused supporters of the protests, who displayed red-painted hands (a symbol of the movement since its inception), of sympathising with Hamas. The first extended RTS news segment covering the protests aired only after the major blockade of three bridges in Novi Sad on 1st February 2025. This report was followed by an SNS press release accusing RTS of “scandalous reporting” and breaching journalistic standards, highlighting political interference in the work of public service media.

The most coordinated attack on media critical of the government came on 5th April 2025, when a propaganda film titled Evil Times (Zlo doba) was broadcast simultaneously on six television channels with national coverage — Pink, Tanjug, Happy, K1, B92, and Informer TV. In the 60-minute video, outlets owned by the United Group media conglomerate, which has its headquarters outside Serbia, in particular N1 and Nova, were smeared as illegal foreign agents and enemies of the state. The video, which features interviews with prominent ruling party members, including former Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and the President of the National Assembly Ana Brnabić, was produced by the NGO “Centre for Social Stability”, which was co-founded by Nemanja Starović, the current Minister for Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs.

Weeks-long blockade of Serbia’s public broadcasters

In March and April 2025, a series of student-led actions targeted Serbia’s public broadcasters Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) and Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV).

On the evening of 10th March, students launched a 22-hour blockade of the RTS building, during which journalists were allowed to exit but not re-enter the premises. The blockade followed months of what the students viewed as unbalanced reporting on their protests. Tensions rose further after an RTS journalist referred to the students as a “mob” earlier that day. There was a strong police presence during the blockade and clashes broke out between police and demonstrators. During the altercation, a plainclothes police officer was injured by a member of the gendarmerie. Although there was video evidence, high-ranking government officials, including the President, blamed the protesting students for the injury.

Following this event and continued dissatisfaction with the public broadcasters’ coverage, particularly regarding what students described as insufficient reporting on a group of students’ cross-country cycling trip to Strasbourg, France to address the European Parliament, demonstrations escalated in April.

From 14th April, students and their supporters began blocking the premises of RTS, headquartered in Belgrade, and Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV) in Novi Sad. While the blockade of the RTV premises ended the next day, following an early morning intervention by the gendarmerie, the Belgrade protests continued for the following two weeks.

On some days, protesters physically prevented staff from entering the RTS building, which led to police intervention and brief clashes. RTS then moved its operations to an undisclosed studio. RTS condemned the blockades, arguing they violated legal norms and were inconsistent with the values protesters claimed to uphold.

In the course of these developments, “wanted” posters with the names and photos of RTS employees were distributed and displayed in public places in Belgrade, presumably by the student movement or people associated with its cause. The posters featured photos of journalists and the inscription “WANTED: for misleading the public through false and incomplete reporting”. At the bottom it said that the promised reward was “free media” and that interested parties should contact the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media. RTS condemned the targeting in the strongest possible terms and filed a criminal complaint with the First General Prosecutor’s Office. The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia and the SafeJournalists Network also condemned the posters and called them “unacceptable in a democratic society”.

On 28th April 2025, the Committee for Culture and Information of the Serbian Parliament announced a public competition to elect new members of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) Council, one of the student demands. The student blockades of RTS were lifted the same day. According to the laws on media supervision, the Council should have been elected six months earlier, but the last attempt to elect the body was cancelled after controversy and the withdrawal of some candidates. The REM Council plays a crucial role in enforcing compliance with media laws by private and state broadcasters, including ensuring balanced election coverage.

Deportations and entry bans on foreign nationals

In the context of the protests, there has been a growing pattern of deportations, entry bans, and administrative pressure on foreign nationals perceived as supporting the movement. These measures, which have targeted civil society representatives, journalists, and ordinary citizens appear to align with the government’s broader narrative of illicit foreign interference in domestic affairs.

On 21st January 2025, 13 participants from non-governmental organisations were detained by plainclothes police officers in Belgrade after attending a workshop organised by the Erste Foundation. The event, titled Earned Income Strategies for Mission-Based Organisations, was held as part of the NGO Academy, a joint initiative by the Erste Foundation and the Vienna University of Economics and Business aimed at strengthening civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.

Participants from Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Albania, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova and Austria were taken in for questioning, held overnight, and issued documents in Cyrillic that they were required to sign, despite reportedly not being able to read or fully understand them. The documents declared them “security risks to Serbia” and imposed a one-year entry ban. The deportations provoked formal diplomatic responses: Croatia lodged a protest over the expulsion of its citizens, and Albania and Romania requested clarification from Serbian authorities. In a joint statement, Serbian NGOs described the treatment of their colleagues from the region as “cowardly, illegal and vile,” warning that it was part of a broader campaign to fuel suspicion of foreign agents and suppress dissent.

On 14th March, the day before a major protest in Belgrade, journalists from the Slovenian broadcaster POP TV and reporters from Croatian RTL and Slobodna Dalmacija were denied entry at the border while en route to cover the major protest scheduled for the next day. According to the SafeJournalists Network, authorities cited a “negative security assessment” as the reason for denying entry.

In April, Croatian Ambassador to Serbia, Hidajet Biščević, announced that 15 Croatian nationals had been expelled from Serbia over the previous three months, all allegedly due to security concerns. He noted that Croatian citizens appeared to be disproportionately targeted, but declined to comment on the possible motivation. However, commentators have expressed concern that some of these expulsions may have been politically motivated and connected to support shown for the student protests. Several high-ranking government officials, including the President, have attempted to link Croatian security services to the protests, a narrative frequently echoed by pro-government tabloids.

Among the more high-profile cases is that of Arien Ivković Stojanović, a Croatian national who had lived in Serbia for 12 years. A graduate of a Serbian medical faculty and employed by a domestic insurance company, she is married to a Serbian citizen and has a seven-year-old child. In April, the Ministry of the Interior cancelled her temporary residence, citing an assessment that she posed an “unacceptable security risk.” She was ordered to leave the country within seven days and banned from returning for one year. Ivković Stojanović believes the decision was tied to her vocal support for the student protests, which she attended and endorsed on social media. On 12th May, the Administrative Court in Belgrade temporarily suspended her deportation pending an appeal.

Similarly, on 21st April, Croatian daily Jutarnji list reported that Croatian citizen Nikola Francetić, who had lived in Belgrade since 2018, had been expelled from the country on national security grounds. According to media reports, Francetić is a media executive and director of NetTV Plus, part of the United Group media network, which owns opposition-aligned outlets such as N1 and Nova. His expulsion followed United Group’s February 2025 sale of several assets, including NetTV Plus, to the state-owned telecom operator Telekom Srbija. However, on 22nd April, the Serbian magazine Vreme reported that Francetić’s deportation had been postponed pending an appeal.