The protests were sparked by news of a brutal beating of opposition candidate Borko Stefanović, founder of Serbia’s left-wing party Levica Srbije, in the southern town of Kruševac last November. After Vučić infamously declared he would not give into protesters’ demands even if five million were to gather after the first organised rally in December, the protesters named their mobilisations, ‘Svi kao jedan - 1 od 5 miliona’ (All as one - 1 out of 5 million).
Their biggest concern are the means used by the current government to silence its opposition: the state has a severe lack of media freedom, alarmingly high levels of corruption and violence against political opposition, particularly verbal attacks, are a regular phenomena.
Vučić elections, situation in Serbia
Aleksandar Vučić became president of the country in 2017 through what his critics say have been ‘highly unfair’ elections. A former two-time prime minister as well as minister of defence, he has been the leader of the ruling conservative and populist SNS Party (Serbia’s Progressive Party) since 2012. During Slobodan Milošević’s authoritarian regime, which dragged Serbia into a bloody war against its ex-Yugoslav neighbours, Vučić also served as strongman’s Information Minister between 1998 and 2000.
