{"id":312755,"date":"2025-12-03T10:28:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T09:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/editoriale\/la-protesta-che-ha-cambiato-la-serbia-dan-banik-intervista-nemanja-dzuverovic\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T09:46:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T08:46:39","slug":"la-protesta-che-ha-cambiato-la-serbia-dan-banik-intervista-nemanja-dzuverovic","status":"publish","type":"editoriale","link":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/editoriale\/la-protesta-che-ha-cambiato-la-serbia-dan-banik-intervista-nemanja-dzuverovic\/","title":{"rendered":"The protest that changed Serbia: Dan Banik interviews Nemanja D\u017euverovi\u0107"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this podcast, Dan Banik<\/strong>, Academic Director of the Knowledge Hub on Democracy<\/a> at Circle U.<\/a>, speaks with Nemanja D\u017euverovi\u0107<\/strong>, Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Belgrade and fellow Chair of the Knowledge Hub, to explore one of the most significant civic mobilizations in contemporary Serbia.<\/p>\n

The conversation begins with the collapse of the Novi Sad train station, which took place a year earlier and claimed sixteen lives: a tragic event that exposed a political system corroded by corruption, impunity, and the concentration of power. From this collective wound emerged a student movement that, within months, grew into a nationwide protest uniting academics, workers, professionals, and hundreds of thousands of citizens<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Banik and D\u017euverovi\u0107 reconstruct the broader context of democratic erosion that has afflicted Serbia for more than a decade, explaining how a single political force has managed to capture the entire institutional system. They then address the growing frustration toward the European Union, accused of prioritizing short-term stability over the defense of democratic values, thus contributing to what many scholars describe as a \u201cstabilocracy.\u201d The dialogue expands to the shifting geopolitical landscape: the increasingly prominent roles of China and Russia, the ambiguity of Serbia\u2019s relations with the West, and the rise of inequality hidden beneath an apparent wave of economic development.<\/p>\n

Drawing on D\u017euverovi\u0107\u2019s firsthand experience\u2014from university occupations to the government\u2019s escalating repression\u2014the episode offers rare insight into a collective movement striving to restore transparency, accountability, and participation in a democracy under strain<\/strong>. This conversation not only interrogates the present of the Balkans but also reminds us that democratic renewal can still emerge from below, fueled by the courage of a generation unwilling to give up.<\/p>\n

Listen to the podcast.<\/strong><\/p>\n