Serbia’s New Protest Wave: Change Today, Silence on Yesterday?

Lejla Cavcic

Image sourced from Dejan Krsmanovic via Wikimedia Commons.

The collapse of a railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia in November 2024 triggered nationwide student protests, demanding transparency and an end to President Aleksandar Vučić’s authoritarian rule. Amidst the protests, one thing is notably absent. Those calling for a better Serbia remain silent on its role in the Bosnian war and Srebrenica Genocide. The protests are shaped by a selective amnesia, fuelled by nationalistic recounts and a lack of willingness confront the past — including a missed opportunity to protest Vučić’s performative victimhood during the UN’s 2024 Resolution on Srebrenica Genocide. 

Solidarity between Bosnian and Serbian youth is impossible without acknowledging past atrocities. To date, Serbian youth have failed to confront nationalist identities or reckon with the country’s historical crimes in Bosnia, stemming from a complex mix of complicity, inherited nationalism and structural disinformation. Activism remains confined to present-day grievances, disconnected from the historical foundations of the very state they are protesting. In the absence of genuine solidarity, Serbian youth risk being co-opted by the same nationalist ideologies they seek to resist, while Bosnian youth remain isolated in their pursuit of justice.

How the protests gained momentum

When Novi Sad’s newly constructed railway station collapsed, it set off student protests in Serbia. These protests quickly became the largest in modern Serbian history, rapidly gaining momentum, starting as quiet vigils for victims of the collapse, morphing into larger demonstrations, fuelled by anger regarding corruption. The protests became so large due to strict organisations and clear demands. 

Serbian student protests against corruption resonated with Bosnian students, who, inspired by their counterparts, took to the streets to protest their government’s lack of accountability for the devastating October 2024 landslides that killed 27 people.  Instead of focusing solely on Bosnia’s tragedies, these students framed their protests around regional solidarity with Serbian youth. Differing historical experiences and political realities between the youth, however, mean solidarity is not rooted in shared struggle. Without confronting Serbia’s past atrocities, such solidarity remains superficial. 

Understanding today’s dynamics between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia requires looking to the past. After Bosnia’s 1992 independence, Bosnian Serbs backed by Serbia launched a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing, including mass murder, concentration camps, and sexual violence. Over 100,000 were killed, including 8,372 Bosniak men and boys in the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide. The war ended with the Dayton Agreement, but atrocities continued in Kosovo, where Serbian forces targeted ethnic Albanians and prompted NATO’s intervention to stop Serbia’s continued regional aggression. 

Vučić’s politics and the victimhood narrative

The current protests mark a significant shift from past failed youth outrage. In Serbia, the remnants of wartime nationalism linger in the post-genocide phase: denial, triumphalism, and a pervasive sense of victimisation. In response to the UN Resolution designating 11 July as the International Day of Commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide, Vučić framed the Resolution as an attack branding Serbia as a “genocidal nation”—despite the Resolution making no explicit mention of the country—draping himself in a Serbian flag and fuelling historical denial. This narrative remains unchallenged by the student protestors, who, by echoing it instead of confronting it, undermine the possibility of solidarity with Bosnian youth. 

Unlike the current protests, which arose in response to a tragedy in Serbia, earlier opportunities to mobilise youth protests were largely ignored. For instance, during the UN General Assembly's sessions on establishing the Day of Remembrance, students missed the chance to protest Vučić's performative victimhood and take steps toward reconciliation. Only one marginalised group, The Youth Initiative for Human Rights, asserted, “Vučić does not speak for us; we support the Resolution.” They were a minority against the wider silence, revealing how deeply the embedded victimhood narrative is entrenched in Serbian society and highlighting the past failures of the broader student movement to challenge this narrative. 

Regional solidarity cannot be built on silence 

Cross-border solidarity between Serbian and Bosnian youth must confront the past. By neglecting the trauma of the genocide, the current student protests risk reinforcing historical denial. Survivors still carry the scars of a past that has not been properly acknowledged. Many continue searching for the remains of family members killed, and these unresolved wounds cannot be overlooked in any movement for regional unity. Calls to move forward without addressing the genocide only serve to perpetuate the silences that divide the region. For solidarity to be genuine, it must be grounded in a shared reckoning with the past. Without confronting Serbia’s role in these atrocities, student protests will miss the chance for meaningful reconciliation. Solidarity rooted in denial is unstable and cannot endure without reckoning with painful truths.

The student protests in Bosnia and Serbia represent a crucial moment for youth in the region. While these protestors share frustrations with political dysfunction and lack of accountability, they remain deeply divided by a failure to confront the past. The calls for regional solidarity cannot be genuine without first acknowledging Serbia’s role in the atrocities of the 1990s. Without facing the trauma of genocide, denial, and glorification of war criminals, any movement for cross-border unity remains hollow. Solidarity must be rooted in truth, or it risks becoming political convenience that erases Bosnians’ lived trauma. These protests will only resonate if youth break the silence, confront uncomfortable legacies, and demand accountability — from leaders and themselves.

Lejla Cavcic is a past Europe and Eurasia Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs. Lejla holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Adelaide, majoring in Politics and International Relations. Her passion for Europe and Eurasia is influenced by her Bosnian heritage. She is fluent in Bosnian, having earned two Awards of Excellence in the language during her senior school years.