"We are practically living in a state of emergency, only no one has publicly acknowledged it," Dragan Popović from the Center for Practical Politics told Vreme. Daily protests and road blockades throughout Serbia, the blockade of universities and the judiciary due to a strike by lawyers, a part of secondary schools, a reflection of civil disobedience, announcements of new strikes speak of a deep social and political crisis.
Serbia is in a state of emergency. It is enough just to go out on the street and see how obvious it is. Not only that half of the country is blocked, that schools are not working regularly, that many professions are in a kind of suspension of work and civil disobedience, but also the work of the judiciary is blocked due to the lawyers' strike, and on top of all that Vlada in his resignation, Dragan Popović from the Center for Practical Politics told "Vreme".
"We are practically living in a state of emergency, only no one has publicly acknowledged it," says Popović.
He points out that it is very difficult to predict how long such a situation can last, especially when it comes to the problem with the Government of Serbia.
"Energy on the street still exists, primarily among students, but also in other parts of society, and that cannot be resolved through elections, nor can anyone from the opposition agree to the elections," says Popović.
A kind of mat
He adds that people on the streets will demand the fulfillment of student demands, first of all, that the institutions start doing their work.
However, Popović emphasizes that it is a kind of stalemate, to put it in chess terms - because the institutions cannot fulfill the students' demands.
"That's why this situation cannot be solved by classic ways to get out of the crisis, nor are we in a classic position, because we are in a state of emergency." First, we have to admit that everything is extraordinary in this country, and then look for some extraordinary solutions, such as a transitional or expert government. In short, we need a government that can fulfill the students' demands in order to get out of the chaos," says Popović.
Speaking about Vučić's unsuccessful attempt to create discord among students and professors, but also among universities by inviting the Rector's College from the University of Belgrade to a dialogue, Popović assessed that Vučić did not learn anything from that failure.
"He certainly didn't learn anything from that, and I'm surprised that in the past three months he's managed so poorly to create more discord." I'm not surprised by the coaster attempts. Everything you can think of that an authoritarian government could implement - they implement it," says Popović.
He warns that the regime will try to use everything it can, including the "political police under its control", the security services and the tabloids.
"They will do everything to break up the protests and I am sure that we are not at the end of that process, they will continue to do that, and on the other side it is to show how strong it is and to resist such attempts," concludes Popović.
Vučić is not ready to hand over power
The rapporteur of the European Parliament for Serbia, Tonino Picula, believes that Serbia is in an "undeclared state of emergency".
He told Radio Free Europe that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić did not find a way to compensate for the dissatisfaction of those protesting.
He added that it is up to the students and citizens who are protesting to decide how to continue the protests, but that they must articulate them politically.
He reminded that Vučić had hinted that he was not ready to hand over power to an expert group, that is, to an interim transitional government.
Picula assessed that elections are not a solution if some kind of social consensus is not found during them and indicated that there are no indications that this time would be any different.
Who is all blocked or suspended
The blockades of the faculties started with the blockade of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, which was a response to the attack on the students of that faculty. In the meantime, all universities in Serbia are under blockade.
Their example was followed by a large number of high schools, as well as some elementary schools, so high school students and their teachers can be seen daily at roadblocks. Teachers at the "Ivo Andrić" Elementary School in Belgrade even signed blank resignations and completely suspended the start of the second semester.
Special attention of the public was caused by the suspension of the work of lawyers, which should last for a whole month. In the explanation for the suspension of work, the lawyers stated that "none of the demands of the student protests have been met" and added that this is not the only reason, but that the reasons are also dissatisfaction with the work of the courts and prosecutor's offices that ignore "gross violations of the rights of citizens" and "tolerate illegalities in the work of judicial, prosecutorial and security officials". On February 5, the High Court in Belgrade partially annulled the decision on the one-month suspension of work and ordered the lawyers to act in a series of cases, but the Bar Association of Serbia announced on February 6 that the Court's decision was illegal and that it would appeal.
From February 10th, theaters and actors in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Sombor and Zrenjanin are also on strike for seven days. "The theater is alive only when it is part of the community." That's why we're leaving the stage and joining those who are looking for change. "The theater is a place of truth, freedom and empathy, and for months now, truth, freedom and empathy have stood at the blockades of faculties and protests throughout Serbia," the acting ensembles stated in a joint statement.
At the protest on February 5, part of the workers of the City Transport Company (GSP) Belgrade requested the annulment of the decision on the abolition of trolleybuses in the public transport system, a review of the contract on public-private partnership and private carriers in the last year. This is only part of the demands of GSP workers, and if the government ignores them, they have announced a strike.
Although they are no longer employed, so they cannot go on strike, the students were also supported by pensioners at a large rally on February 5. On that day, they joined the students in giving a 15-minute letter to those who died in Novi Sad and said that they will be with the students until their demands are met.
The list of groups, professional associations, and individual professions that join active support of student protests is growing week by week.
Students of the Faculty of Law in the blockade organized a public address, and students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts organized a walk to the Ušće roundabout, but in the process it was decided to go to the Branko bridge
Do the parts of today's sermon by Patriarch Porfiri, the speech at the protest in Užice by the priest Milić Dragović, and the call of the Eparchy of Žička to the representatives of the authorities not to forget to protect the people, hint at the new attitude of the SPC towards the authorities
The woman with Seselj's books insulted and threatened representatives of the National Theatre, the Philharmonic, the National Museum and the National Library. One of the attendees, Darko Tomović, says that this is a daily occurrence
Posters appeared on the streets of Belgrade with the photo of, among others, the special prosecutor for organized crime Mladen Nenadić and the rector of the University of Belgrade Vladan Đokić with the caption "Your hands are bloody."
The police cordon does not allow the chorus of citizens of Novi Sad to pass. The intervention unit of the police directs them to the "gathering place"
If we are neutral while students are being imprisoned, girls and boys are being beaten for God's justice, democracy is being suppressed, dissenters are being dehumanized, corruption is continuing that kills and many other evil things are being done - then nothing
Serbia is not ready for fires, storms and floods, but President Aleksandar Vučić is ready to turn everything into propaganda
A policeman and a policewoman were filmed pulling a student's hair in an attempt to extort her. It is a classic example of torture, a gross violation of the law for which they would have to bear the consequences
The archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
See all
