Serbia has seen a wave of student protests over the last four months due to the deadly train station collapse in Novi Sad that has now claimed the lives of 16 people. The collapse comes after recent renovations by the Serbian government, with the opposition calling out the government for making cost-cutting decisions that led to the collapse. These protests have expanded and taken over Belgrade, which is dominated by student protestors fighting against the corruption of the Serbian government. In recent days, there has been a surge of pro-government protests through the streets of Serbia, ushering a question of what is next for the Serbian government. 

Another question is if this is just public unrest or a sign of democratic backsliding. 

These pro-government protests are a new change to the public unrest that Serbia has seen over the past several months. Serbian leader Aleksandar Vučić has criticized the national broadcast, RTS, as contributing to the revolution. President Vučić has been called a “former extreme nationalist” leading an increasingly authoritarian government. His attempt to join the European Union has received backlash by curbing democratic freedoms and cracking down on independent media, especially with the protests. Vučić has also been maintaining close ties with Russia and China throughout this time. Additionally, he is receiving support from Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, another name popularly known as eroding Hungary’s democracy. 

Almond and Verba identify how democracies need balance and a democratic culture that allows citizens to believe they can influence politics. All these Serbian citizens are voicing their opinions as they try to influence the government. The anti-government protests are actively demanding action and change to create a less corrupt government. A key indicator that a government is breaking down, according to Linz, is when governments are not solving problems that should be solvable. Anti-government protests began because of an infrastructure collapse, an event that typically should not cause so much unrest but has created a nationwide movement demanding change. A basic infrastructure project should not be collapsing after it was recently built, so if the government was cutting corners for that, what else are they doing?

These protests have created chaos in Serbia, but the government’s use of the media is an indication of abuse of democratic powers. The pro-government protest this week was promoted by President Vučić as he denounced the anti-government protests as being a danger to the State. Adena et al. in “Radio and the Rise of the Nazis in Prewar Germany” discussed how the Weimar government used radio broadcasts to introduce pro-government ideas. In an era with different news platforms, it is not as easy to create propaganda and misinformation. Instead, the Serbian government is trying to delegitimize the media through these pro-government protests, arguing that the media is misinforming the public and causing a revolution. The government knows how crucial media can be, which is seen in studies conducted by Gregory and Yurukoglu and Barrera et al., where misinformation dramatically swayed public opinion. 

President Vučić might be taking the approach that Hofstadter discusses in his paranoid style of politics. The Serbian government is trying to recover as masses of its citizens are actively protesting against them and calling out their corruption. Hofstadter discusses how social conflict can not be mediated but how governments can look at it as an evil that needs to be defeated. This is exactly what is happening in Serbia right now. The anti-government protests are a threat, so the Serbian government is trying to delegitimize the media and support pro-government rallies to take back control. However, this might be an unreasonable goal. The Serbian constitution has freedom of the press, and even though there is a lot of pressure from politicians, there is still media that is uncensored. These protests are being talked about worldwide and can not be ignored.  

Actions such as public outcries, acts of trying to legitimize the media, and instituting a more paranoid style of politics are not characteristics of a healthy democracy. If Serbia continues listening to allies such as Orban and instituting measures to try and censor the media and manipulate public opinion, then Serbia can be heading down a dangerous path. The government already has an enormous amount of corruption. All these issues will also make it incredibly difficult for Serbia to become a member of the European Union, one of President Vučić’s goals. Right now, there are no indications of when protests will end and if there will be government action. However, if the government continues trying to ignore the public outcries, its future as a democracy might be challenged.