Serbia's youth are looking West to escape Milošević's grim legacy

Serbia stands at a crossroads unlike any it has faced since Slobodan Milošević was swept from power a quarter of a century ago.

For years, my country has seemed trapped between two worlds – unable to decide whether its future lay with the democratic nations of the West or in clinging to the political habits and geopolitical ambiguities of the post-communist era.

However, the illusion that this era has passed must be shattered. Serbia today is ruled by the exact same political coalition from the darkest years of the Milošević regime – the same alliance of Radicals (now rebranded as SNS) and the SPS that once before drove the country into isolation and ruin. They may have changed their suits, but the core mechanism of governance remains entirely identical.
Now, thanks in large part to the courage of a new generation of young Serbians, the moment for a final reckoning with this framework has finally arrived.

President Aleksandar Vučić has announced that he intends to step down before the end of his term, potentially triggering both presidential and parliamentary elections months ahead of schedule.

If that happens, these will not simply be elections to choose another government. They could become the moment Serbia finally closes the chapter opened by Milošević and his political heirs today, embracing a confident, democratic future alongside Europe and the wider Western world.

Ironically, it was a tragedy which lit the fuse.

When the concrete canopy at Novi Sad railway station collapsed in November 2024, killing 16 innocent people, public anger was initially directed at those responsible for what many believed was a preventable disaster.

That anger quickly evolved into something far bigger.

The protests that followed became a nationwide demand for honesty, accountability and functioning democratic institutions.

Students filled the streets. Universities became centres of civic resistance. They demanded the release of official documents, proper criminal investigations, independent institutions and genuinely fair elections.

Unlike previous protest movements, these students have deliberately rejected traditional party politics. They have organised through democratic assemblies rather than party headquarters and insisted that this is a movement of citizens rather than career politicians.

Yet politics has come looking for them.

Because when hundreds of thousands demand honest government, transparent institutions and fresh elections, politics inevitably follows.

Remarkably, they have not stood alone.

Teachers, professors, lawyers, doctors, retired judges, veterans, cyclists, motorcyclists and countless ordinary families have rallied behind them.

Perhaps the defining image of modern Serbia has been farmers parking their tractors around universities and protest sites to shield young demonstrators from intimidation. It is a powerful symbol of a nation protecting its own future.

This is not a revolution driven by ideology.

It's a movement driven by ordinary people who simply want Serbia to function like a normal European democracy.

That is why these elections matter so profoundly.

For too long Serbia has lived with the legacy of that same politics. Although governments have changed, the country under its current leadership has never entirely escaped the habits of centralised power, institutional weakness and endless balancing between East and West.

Today's younger generation sees things differently.

Many have studied abroad. They travel across Europe. They use the same technology, consume the same media and share the same aspirations as young people in London, Paris, NY or Berlin.

Their priorities are jobs rather than cheap nationalism, opportunity rather than political patronage, transparent government rather than political theatre.

They want Serbia to become a country whose success depends not on geopolitical manoeuvring but on democratic institutions, economic growth and the rule of law.

I believe they are right.

As a member of the Serbian Parliament and Deputy President of the Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia (POKS), I have long argued that Serbia should look westwards with confidence while remaining proud of its own history, faith, and identity.

That means closer cooperation with Europe's democracies, maintaining strong relations with the United States, strengthening our institutions according to the highest democratic standards and playing a full role in European institutions.

This is not a call for hostility towards Russia, China, or anyone else.

Serbia's history and cultural ties should always be respected.

But friendship with any country should never come at the expense of our democratic future.

The restoration of Serbia's constitutional monarchy forms part of that wider, reform-driven vision.

Across Europe, constitutional monarchies such as Britain, Sweden, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands demonstrate how a politically neutral Head of State can provide continuity and stability while leaving elected governments to govern.

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander Karađorđević has repeatedly made clear that he seeks no throne unless it is freely offered by the Serbian people through democratic means. That is exactly as it should be.

A constitutional monarchy should unite families and the nation rather than divide them.

The decision, however, belongs entirely to the Serbian people.

Whether they choose a republic or a constitutional monarchy, what matters most is that Serbia finally builds institutions strong enough to command public trust.

That is the lesson of the student movement.

Young Serbians are not demanding perfection. They are demanding accountability and honesty.

Above all, they are demanding a country that belongs to its citizens rather than a corrupt political class.

Twenty-six years after Slobodan Milošević fell, while the same political actors try to convince us there is no alternative, Serbia finally has a chance to complete the democratic journey that began in October 2000.

History rarely offers second chances. Serbia must not waste this one.