Serbia remains immersed in a deep political crisis before the perplexed gaze of the EU caught in the crossfire between the strategic need to keep supporting a candidate country for EU membership, and the realisation that many principles of law here are still very far from European standards.
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00:00People on political positions should be held accountable.
00:09Our system will be changed with the help of people.
00:12We are willing to sacrifice a lot and fight for what we believe in.
00:20Serbia is still immersed in a deep political crisis in the face of the perplexed look of a European Union trapped between two fires.
00:27The strategic need to continue supporting a candidate state to the adhesion and the observation that many principles of the rule of law here are still far from European standards.
00:39Is there any way out of this mess?
00:42The protests in Serbia began when 15 people died after the collapse of a market in a train station in the city of Novi Sad.
00:54Protesters accuse the authorities of corruption and authoritarianism.
00:59Despite the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, the movement, led by students, has spread to more than 200 cities.
01:08The president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, accused them of leading an attempt at revolution.
01:14He also claims that foreign powers want to overthrow him and destabilize Serbia.
01:20So far, the EU has remained discreet.
01:24The European Commission has stated that it supports the rule of law and freedom of assembly.
01:29Serbia has been a candidate country for adhesion since 2012.
01:33Negotiations began in 2014.
01:36The EU is its largest trading partner and main investor, as well as the largest provider of financial assistance.
01:43Europe has reserved another 1,586 million euros in funds lost and favorable loans,
01:50provided that Serbia performs more reforms in the business, environmental and digital sectors, as well as in the field of the rule of law.
02:07Civil society groups have called on European institutions to do more to guarantee more democratic reforms.
02:16Here in Serbia, they fear that without the unequivocal support of the EU, the country will become more nationalist and euro-sceptic.
02:25This is the portrait of a youth looking for understanding, help and support.
02:37At least 40,000 people have taken to the streets of Nis, the third city in Serbia.
02:43Among them, these 20-year-old students of electrical engineering.
02:48Like all demonstrators, they distrust the country's political institutions, demand less corruption and more democracy, transparency, justice, fraternity and accountability.
03:06I don't even trust those anymore. I just really hope that something will be changed about it soon,
03:11because if it's not, we'll just sink deeper and deeper and further away from democracy itself.
03:19A democracy that they consider to be cornered by individualism, greed and selfishness.
03:25Not many people look at a country as something that we need to build together and as something that we all need to invest in and actually care about,
03:33but it's just something that they need to take money away from.
03:37And I think that what we're doing right here is morally the right thing to do at the moment.
03:44The students have not aligned with any political party or ideology,
03:49they refuse to give their last names because their personal situation is not important, they say.
03:56I like to live by my values of honesty and accountability,
04:02but in order for my actions to be worthy and in order for them to have an effect,
04:09I think as a collective we should all abide by them.
04:12Those leading the country and our people should be the ones showing us the way.
04:18We want our knowledge to count for something and we want our hard work to be appreciated.
04:23We want to be judged not by our political views, but what we are and what we have done.
04:30They also demand an independent judicial power and equal rights.
04:34The world is watching us, they say.
04:37I don't believe that anytime soon we'll have the recognition that we need to have the change that we want.
04:43So, firstly the change should come from the inside,
04:46afterwards we do expect the governments and other countries to support us,
04:53but we need to support ourselves first.
05:00The protests have adopted multiple forms.
05:03Tonight the three friends came to greet other students who have walked hundreds of kilometers to the city.
05:10We need to show that we are persistent and that we are not going to give up on our requirements,
05:15because that's what everyone was praying for, that after a few weeks we'll get tired of it
05:19and just forget about it and sweep it under the rug.
05:21That's why I'm here, because I believe that we are truly going to make a change.
05:27Finally, people are realizing how much power they really have
05:31and how important it is for everyone to show up.
05:44Although the young Serbians have mobilized around the demands of justice and anti-corruption,
05:49the European Union finds it a distant reality due to the delays in the process of adhesion.
05:57Many feel that the EU's response to its perception of democratic erosion has been weak,
06:03and this is feeding a latent Euroscepticism in the younger generations.
06:08This expert maintains in the relations between Serbia and the EU.
06:12The generation aged between 45 and 60 are in majority pro-EU integrations,
06:21whereas the younger generation shows disregard, disbelief and no interest in becoming the members of the EU.
06:30The generation between 45 and 60 was the same age as the youth today, only during the 90s,
06:39and they remember very well the times of isolation, the times of sanctions,
06:43the times of conflicts in the region, and they do not want to see it happening now.
06:51A major European commitment to education, cultural exchanges and financing is key,
06:57he says, to attract young people tired of the long process of adhesion,
07:02now also eclipsed by disinformation campaigns.
07:06There is a combination of these issues which is making citizens not aware about what the EU stands for,
07:15what the EU brings and what are the obligations of Serbia in this context of European integration process.
07:22We hope that the EU is going to take a more firm stand in defending the fundamental values that it represents
07:30and to communicate them properly to the citizens so that they wouldn't lose this generation.
07:36The students have committed to maintain the mobilization until the country adopts a system
07:42that values knowledge and work, not obedience and silence.