'The Festival of Belgrade': From the Novi Sad Tragedy to Mass Uprisings against the Hybrid Regime of Vucic/SNS

• In Event: Novel Forms of Civic Resistance to Hybrid Regimes at the European Outskirt: From Ukraine and Bosnia to Georgia and Serbia

Abstract

In what ways do contemporary student mass uprisings in Belgrade challenge the
Vucic/SNS political cartel, and what role does the Novi Sad tragedy play in this
dynamic? On November 1, 2024, the concrete canopy of the Novi Sad railway
station in Northern Serbia collapsed, leaving fifteen fatalities and two non-fatal
injuries. Various student unions and the youth wing of the Green-Left Front (ZLF) oppositional party
have mobilised thousands of students to partake in daily campus blockades, mass
demonstrations on the street, highway blockades, and a symbolic two-day protest
march from the accident site to Belgrade.By the utilisation of assorted
triangular techniques, such as fieldwork, in-depth interviews of key informants, and
focus group sessions, this piece delves into comprehending the relationship between
the trigger factor – the collapse of the railway canopy in Novi Sad – and the
subsequent mass uprisings which may lead to the downfall of the Vucic-regime.

Authors

• Morten Bøås, Norwegian Inst of International Affairs (Norway)

• Luka Filipovic, Inst for Contemporary History (Serbia)

• Kristian Lefdal, Norwegian Inst of International Affairs (Norway)