Serbia Protests: A Rural Country Aching for Change

The images above represent a country on the precipice of change twice. Serbia on the left was changing as result of its independence from the Ottomans and becoming a Sovereign nation. That change was not as transformation as some of the modernizing elites in Belgrade may have wanted it to be. 

The Serbian Protests that have been rocking the country since late 2024 have continued to grow. While many Russian websites are attempting to see if the Serbian President can stave off the situation by calling elections and then building support with his political parties in Serbia.

Serbia seeks to sit on two chairs. The President is not able to fulfill the desires of the people. Many students, who are yearning for an entrance into greater Europe have had enough. Many Russians say that they are being propped up from outside; I agree with this somewhat. However, Serbia is currently having many issues trying to grow its economy. Many youth in Serbia feel trapped inside the country. It is no wonder that so many seek to leave Serbia or have the country join the EU. 

In spite of how the Pro-Russians Serbians may think, the issue is that they have to create a new culture not just simply create a more rustic version of a consumer culture in a Balkans country.

They also have to contend with the Croatians and Bosnians who hate the Serbians for having been warmongers in their own countries. Of course, this view is based on their bias and the Western media bias that often is placed onto the world's mind as if it were its own living organism that shapes our thoughts. The Serbians since the war with Nato in 1999 have been half apologizing and then attempting to create their own path. 

Serbia is stuck between two paths. Can it be the European Japan? A state that is the Switzerland of the Balkans? Not likely considering that it lacks the industrial capacity to be on its own. The other path is just become another EU state, which will be subservient to Brussels.

Serbia does not really have any other choice. The country is less rural than America was in the 1940s and urbanization has very slow in comparison with other Balkan countries such as Greece.

The Serbian President is stuck. Vucic is too meek and bureaucratic to change the culture. Serbia has many sectors of its society that are yearning for a new direction in the Balkans.