The students were always nationalists tho. From the very beginning they carried signs saying they were for the constitution the ‘No Surrender’ sign for Kosovo. They immediately brought Kosovo students in on the protests. The protest isn’t against Vučić even as such but against “the system.” The problem is that too many people have romanticized the protestors as being pro EU, pro Western democratic institutions etc... they never have been. They’ve always been whatever any made them to be. Occasionally you get a sign of light like the veterans admitting that maybe they were on the wrong side. But that’s it.
I couldn't speak for everyone, of course, but it seems to me like a lot of enthusiasm for the students came from the appearance that they had found a new political language that could help in moving out of the constant “national” crossfire. Maybe this was always unreasonably optimistic, though.
It was always very much choosing your reasons rather than reasoning to choose with many particularly from civil society & liberal politicians. A friend and I have been discussing for months that the lack of clarity in political goals and the nationalistic tinge never helped the protests. Essentially they could never answer "what do you want?" beyond "the system doesn't work." "Ok but what do you want to do?" that last question never had an answer.
There was a lot of rows amongst the students themselves and the subsequent purges etc... All very academic. But the nationalism has always been there from the beginning. In fact, it felt like it was very important for them to be very clear that they are patriotic. Thus the anti-Kosovo signs were there from the beginning. This at first was thought in a way to push off criticism of being anti-Serbian. But it seems it was always deeply felt.I've said many times to Georgian activists who wanted co-opt this as part of their pro-EU thinking. This has nothing to do with that. This was never anything near a "color revolution" but more just fed up because young Serbs seem to have no future in Serbia and are tired of being poor, misused etc... So what they want - it seems - is actually a return to the past, where people graduated and got good jobs and went to the sea every summer. But thisdoesn't mean re-thinking the nationalism of the past. Interestingly, I had this discussion north Mitrovica while talking about the TV series Operation Sabre which does interrogate these issues of nationalism & corruption. And the young Kosovo Serbs were mostly in their 20s-30s and literally it was all news to them. They never really knew about these issues. So I think some of it is education as you say. But that is changing too. As more people start talking about the past and why things are the way they are its changing. Another Kosovo Serb in his 30s who is VP of an independent political party from both Prishtina and Belgrade told me that Djindjić had to wait 20 years so will we.
That take misreads both the nature and direction of the protests. Demands for free media, fair elections, and institutional accountability are not ideological window dressing. They are the foundation of liberal democracy. Carrying a ‘No Surrender’ sign does not make a movement anti-Western, especially when student leaders are touring Brussels and Strasbourg, not Moscow. Yes, the protests are politically diverse, as any serious grassroots movement would be, but that does not negate their democratic core. Writing them off as shapeless or reactionary simply because they do not fit a narrow ideological mold says more about the commentator than the movement.
Never said they were anti-Western but they are Nationalistic. I'm also not writing them off. But there is a shapelessness to them. It's one thing to say I want free media and free and fair elections, it's another thing to say how do I get them? Kosovo is technically free and fair as far as elections go but it has no government and the technical government has a ruling party that you'd be hard pressed to say is a liberal free democratic government. They do use legal and illegal measures to marginalize the Kosovo Serb community in particular. But they are still a full democracy. Ifthe students are largely nationalist do they continue passivation of Albanian addresses in Preshevo? Do they still support Dodik? Lots to look at there.
You’re moving the goalposts. First you questioned whether the protests embody democratic values. Now you concede they demand free media and elections, but fault them for not offering a full political roadmap. That’s not how civic pressure movements work. They articulate foundational demands, they are not shadow governments.
Second, labeling the movement “nationalistic” ignores both degree and context. Affirming constitutional order or advocating for Kosovo Serbs is not inherently illiberal or anti-democratic. National identity and democratic aspiration are not mutually exclusive, unless we apply a standard no European democracy could meet.
Third, conflating the Serbian student movement with institutional dynamics in Kosovo or with RS politics is a category error. You’re asking whether hypothetical student positions align with unresolved regional issues, but that’s not the protest’s terrain. These are students demanding democratic accountability in Serbia. Let’s not derail that with speculative litmus tests.
If anything, the protest’s openness — the very shapelessness you cite — reflects a rejection of rigid political hierarchies and binary choices. That’s not a flaw. It’s a feature of civic reawakening.
It might also be worth paying closer attention to how these protests are resonating beyond Belgrade. The visible cohesion between Bosniak students and youth from Novi Pazar and their peers elsewhere in Serbia is not just symbolic. It reflects a deeper civic alignment that challenges the usual narratives of division.
I'm not moving the goalposts nor saying speaking up for Kosovo Serbs is a problem. But not recognizing that Kosovo is an independent state in 2025 is. Yes the students had a lot of support from around the region especially in Croatia, N. Macedonia and Montenegro but that has tailed off. You don't see the sympathetic protests or the joining of causes like the nightclub tragedy in N.Macedonia anymore, or the train disaster in Greece. It seemed at first these protests would engage a new political language to attack poor governance and corruption in a way that would bring changes across the region. That hasn't proven so. The nationalism I'm talking about isn't fervor for the future of the State and building democracy but fervor for a past State that never really existed. That was seen on Vidovdan in the speeches. Yes we all know the catchphrases: free media, democracy... but it doesn't mean that this is reality or there is a pathway to getting them. I know many people still - as do I root for the students- and many who are in the protests but I also know that there is a huge gap between protests and political realities.
I hear you, but this line of reasoning risks slipping into a kind of ideological gatekeeping that mirrors tactics we usually criticize. It resembles how regime-aligned voices in Serbia deflect dissent by demanding views on Srebrenica or Kosovo, as if democratic legitimacy must pass through litmus tests.
Refusing to recognize Kosovo may be politically problematic for some, but it does not make a protest movement undemocratic. If that were the case, EU democracies like Spain and Greece would not pass the test. Recognition is a foreign policy position, not a measure of democratic values.
Expecting these protests to maintain regional momentum or attach themselves to every cross-border cause also sets an unrealistic standard. Most legitimate civic movements are anchored in domestic accountability and institutional reform. The Serbian students never claimed to lead a regional wave.
As for historical symbols like Vidovdan, political language in post-conflict societies often draws from inherited codes. That alone does not define the democratic character of a movement. What matters is political direction, not symbolic purity. And in this case, the demands remain focused on free media, fair elections, and institutional integrity.
We may differ in emphasis, but I would caution against dismissing a civic movement simply because it does not conform to a preferred ideological script. That is not analysis. It is dogma.
The students were always nationalists tho. From the very beginning they carried signs saying they were for the constitution the ‘No Surrender’ sign for Kosovo. They immediately brought Kosovo students in on the protests. The protest isn’t against Vučić even as such but against “the system.” The problem is that too many people have romanticized the protestors as being pro EU, pro Western democratic institutions etc... they never have been. They’ve always been whatever any made them to be. Occasionally you get a sign of light like the veterans admitting that maybe they were on the wrong side. But that’s it.
I couldn't speak for everyone, of course, but it seems to me like a lot of enthusiasm for the students came from the appearance that they had found a new political language that could help in moving out of the constant “national” crossfire. Maybe this was always unreasonably optimistic, though.
It was always very much choosing your reasons rather than reasoning to choose with many particularly from civil society & liberal politicians. A friend and I have been discussing for months that the lack of clarity in political goals and the nationalistic tinge never helped the protests. Essentially they could never answer "what do you want?" beyond "the system doesn't work." "Ok but what do you want to do?" that last question never had an answer.
There's also the possibility that it was a takeover?
There was a lot of rows amongst the students themselves and the subsequent purges etc... All very academic. But the nationalism has always been there from the beginning. In fact, it felt like it was very important for them to be very clear that they are patriotic. Thus the anti-Kosovo signs were there from the beginning. This at first was thought in a way to push off criticism of being anti-Serbian. But it seems it was always deeply felt.I've said many times to Georgian activists who wanted co-opt this as part of their pro-EU thinking. This has nothing to do with that. This was never anything near a "color revolution" but more just fed up because young Serbs seem to have no future in Serbia and are tired of being poor, misused etc... So what they want - it seems - is actually a return to the past, where people graduated and got good jobs and went to the sea every summer. But thisdoesn't mean re-thinking the nationalism of the past. Interestingly, I had this discussion north Mitrovica while talking about the TV series Operation Sabre which does interrogate these issues of nationalism & corruption. And the young Kosovo Serbs were mostly in their 20s-30s and literally it was all news to them. They never really knew about these issues. So I think some of it is education as you say. But that is changing too. As more people start talking about the past and why things are the way they are its changing. Another Kosovo Serb in his 30s who is VP of an independent political party from both Prishtina and Belgrade told me that Djindjić had to wait 20 years so will we.
TBH I don't even know if certain things are even seen as nationalistic.
That take misreads both the nature and direction of the protests. Demands for free media, fair elections, and institutional accountability are not ideological window dressing. They are the foundation of liberal democracy. Carrying a ‘No Surrender’ sign does not make a movement anti-Western, especially when student leaders are touring Brussels and Strasbourg, not Moscow. Yes, the protests are politically diverse, as any serious grassroots movement would be, but that does not negate their democratic core. Writing them off as shapeless or reactionary simply because they do not fit a narrow ideological mold says more about the commentator than the movement.
Never said they were anti-Western but they are Nationalistic. I'm also not writing them off. But there is a shapelessness to them. It's one thing to say I want free media and free and fair elections, it's another thing to say how do I get them? Kosovo is technically free and fair as far as elections go but it has no government and the technical government has a ruling party that you'd be hard pressed to say is a liberal free democratic government. They do use legal and illegal measures to marginalize the Kosovo Serb community in particular. But they are still a full democracy. Ifthe students are largely nationalist do they continue passivation of Albanian addresses in Preshevo? Do they still support Dodik? Lots to look at there.
You’re moving the goalposts. First you questioned whether the protests embody democratic values. Now you concede they demand free media and elections, but fault them for not offering a full political roadmap. That’s not how civic pressure movements work. They articulate foundational demands, they are not shadow governments.
Second, labeling the movement “nationalistic” ignores both degree and context. Affirming constitutional order or advocating for Kosovo Serbs is not inherently illiberal or anti-democratic. National identity and democratic aspiration are not mutually exclusive, unless we apply a standard no European democracy could meet.
Third, conflating the Serbian student movement with institutional dynamics in Kosovo or with RS politics is a category error. You’re asking whether hypothetical student positions align with unresolved regional issues, but that’s not the protest’s terrain. These are students demanding democratic accountability in Serbia. Let’s not derail that with speculative litmus tests.
If anything, the protest’s openness — the very shapelessness you cite — reflects a rejection of rigid political hierarchies and binary choices. That’s not a flaw. It’s a feature of civic reawakening.
It might also be worth paying closer attention to how these protests are resonating beyond Belgrade. The visible cohesion between Bosniak students and youth from Novi Pazar and their peers elsewhere in Serbia is not just symbolic. It reflects a deeper civic alignment that challenges the usual narratives of division.
I'm not moving the goalposts nor saying speaking up for Kosovo Serbs is a problem. But not recognizing that Kosovo is an independent state in 2025 is. Yes the students had a lot of support from around the region especially in Croatia, N. Macedonia and Montenegro but that has tailed off. You don't see the sympathetic protests or the joining of causes like the nightclub tragedy in N.Macedonia anymore, or the train disaster in Greece. It seemed at first these protests would engage a new political language to attack poor governance and corruption in a way that would bring changes across the region. That hasn't proven so. The nationalism I'm talking about isn't fervor for the future of the State and building democracy but fervor for a past State that never really existed. That was seen on Vidovdan in the speeches. Yes we all know the catchphrases: free media, democracy... but it doesn't mean that this is reality or there is a pathway to getting them. I know many people still - as do I root for the students- and many who are in the protests but I also know that there is a huge gap between protests and political realities.
I hear you, but this line of reasoning risks slipping into a kind of ideological gatekeeping that mirrors tactics we usually criticize. It resembles how regime-aligned voices in Serbia deflect dissent by demanding views on Srebrenica or Kosovo, as if democratic legitimacy must pass through litmus tests.
Refusing to recognize Kosovo may be politically problematic for some, but it does not make a protest movement undemocratic. If that were the case, EU democracies like Spain and Greece would not pass the test. Recognition is a foreign policy position, not a measure of democratic values.
Expecting these protests to maintain regional momentum or attach themselves to every cross-border cause also sets an unrealistic standard. Most legitimate civic movements are anchored in domestic accountability and institutional reform. The Serbian students never claimed to lead a regional wave.
As for historical symbols like Vidovdan, political language in post-conflict societies often draws from inherited codes. That alone does not define the democratic character of a movement. What matters is political direction, not symbolic purity. And in this case, the demands remain focused on free media, fair elections, and institutional integrity.
We may differ in emphasis, but I would caution against dismissing a civic movement simply because it does not conform to a preferred ideological script. That is not analysis. It is dogma.