Expert on SEE: Vucic’s Regime Will Never Be the Same Whatever the Outcome of Protests

Protest in Belgrade on March 15 (BETAPHOTO/EMIL VAS)

Though the ongoing protests in Serbia numbering in the hundreds of thousands may not be the first demonstrations the nation has seen, they are unique both in populousness and in involvement throughout the country, so the regime of authoritarian Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, even if it remains in power, will no longer have an absolute hold, Florian Bieber, an expert on South East Europe, said on March 24.

In an interview with Austria's national public broadcaster ORF, Bieber said university student protests in Serbia did not seek acts of political symbolism like resignations, but systemic changes, adding that the lack of leaders for the regime to pressure within the university and student protest movement made it less vulnerable to attacks.

At the moment, there is essentially a stalemate between the protesters and the government, Bieber noted, adding that Vucic could no longer be sure of unreserved support from the police, whose members have friends and family among the protesters.

Bieber described the opposition in Serbia as lacking strategic direction and said it had so far reacted "helplessly," making an election victory for the opposition difficult to imagine, and not only because of limited media freedoms.

Though the outcome of the protests remains uncertain, Bieber believes that Vucic will not be able to reassert unchecked dominance.

The European Union has so far been silent about the protests, mostly out of political and economic interest, as Vucic, despite his authoritarianism, is still perceived as a guarantor of stability, and is now attempting to play geopolitical actors against each other, Bieber has stated.