Nga Ditmir Bushati-
AN ERA THAT WILL NOT STOP ANYMORE!
Aleksandar Vučić’s fourteen-year regime has ended. Serbia has been liberated, as a result of resistance and broad political and social mobilization inside the country and in the diaspora. The movement led by students marks a historic victory. Time will tell whether this mobilization and commitment will translate into lasting political and democratic change.
The fall of Vučić is not proof that despotic powers can be defeated under normal conditions. When students have to abandon their lecture halls to save their country, this does not mean democracy is functioning as it should. On the contrary, it is evidence of how “the stars must align” for a despotic power to be overcome.
The fact that the Student Movement, organized in a disciplined and decentralized way, without financial resources, without leaders, without outside support, without party infrastructure and without political experience, managed to defeat a powerful state machine based on clientelism will be studied for a long time in university courses and academic papers.
Vučić’s power rested on controlling political and economic life; patronage of the public administration; subjugated media; sidelining and exclusion of political figures within parties; division and co-optation of the opposition; misuse of security and law enforcement institutions; corruption as a governing norm; and an alliance with organized crime. For a period of time, people grew tired and submitted to this model.
Everything began to change on 1 November 2024, when the concrete canopy of a newly renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed. Sixteen people lost their lives, among them children and students. Unlike previous scandals, in the face of which citizens had reacted with indifference, this time the students stood up. Within a few months, they organized protests and open assemblies where they discussed what to do next. They boycotted lecture halls, marched hundreds of kilometers, slept in school gyms and talked with all strata and generations of society. From this dynamic, a political movement without leaders later emerged, diverse in terms of values, from left to right, and representing different generations, on a single electoral list, with the aim of liberating the state and building a democratic state.
Although this movement faced what was virtually an absolute power that controlled state mechanisms, with attacks, threats and arrests, it preserved its non-violent character, demonstrating that democracy can be exercised even outside traditional political institutions: in classrooms, streets and squares, bringing together people who once had little reason to cooperate.
The students’ victory in Serbia, following the victory of Péter Magyar in Hungary, marks the end of the first generation of post-communist politicians. At the same time, it is a clear signal of hope for Albania. Despite the different circumstances and geopolitical orientations of our countries, the schemes and tactics Vučić used to hold on to power have also taken root in Albania. In many cases, the inspirers are the same lobbyists, oligarchs, pollsters and all sorts of communication technologists.
This is not about the hope that one power can be replaced by another. Rather, it is about the possibility of a democratic renewal, as a response to the disappointment and anger of a generation that has grown up amid numerous scandals, countless hardships and the same leaders. A generation that was born and raised seeing the same problems, without receiving answers to them.
No one can stop the wind of change blowing in our region. A change that comes through solidarity, courage and joint social action. A change that will not be easy, will not come as a gift from abroad, and is not the product of any single group of people. On the contrary, it will come as a result of joint efforts that require strategy, concentration of forces, ethics, ideas and courage. This change begins with separating the state from power, rules of the game and fair political competition, democratic institutions, and cutting the ties between organized crime and corruption. The best guarantee for this is cooperation between citizens