Serbians are finally
rising up against President Aleksandar Vucic’s
regime. For the last five months, massive protests against his reign, and especially the
use of political violence against the opposition, have taken place in the
capital Belgrade and across the country.
Serbia’s road towards
illiberalism is nothing new. Articles about the celebration of the country’s
early 2016 parliamentary and 2017 presidential elections have shown how Serbia’s democracy
is progressively deteriorating, and how Vucic’s change from prime minister
(more powerful) to president (more figurative) could even lead to the collapse
of democracy in Serbia.
While democracy might
not have collapsed yet, one thing is
certain after seven years of Vucic’s reign characterized by his party’s capture
of institutions, media, and the public sector: Serbia is no longer a “defective
democracy,” but rather a “competitive authoritarian” one.
