Wave of anti-gov’t protests sweeps CEE

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The year in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has begun with large-scale protests across the region, including in Serbia, Slovakia, Greece and Montenegro, amid rising geopolitical tensions.

While the triggers vary, the demonstrations have the common thread of addressing government incompetence and demanding improved transparency, reforms and alignment with European democratic norms.

In Serbia, anger over infrastructure failures has boiled over into strikes and calls for system reform, while Slovakia’s protests highlight growing resistance to Prime Minister Robert Fico’s pro-Kremlin policy stances.

Meanwhile, Montenegrins are demanding stricter gun ownership laws, in the aftermath of a mass shooting on New Year’s Day. In Greece, outrage over a fatal train collision two years ago has become a rallying point around wider frustrations regarding public safety failures.

Serbians angered by railway station disaster

Businesses shuttered across Serbia on Friday, 24 January, as mass protests against Aleksandar Vucic’s right-wing government and student-led calls for a general strike escalated.

In the capital, Belgrade, tens of thousands of protesters joined a city-wide march, demanding accountability for the railway station disaster in Novi Sad, north Serbia, that killed 15 people on 1 November 2024, carrying placards with images of bloodied hands and slogans such as “The system needs a revamp”.

The tragedy at the provincial railway station followed large-scale renovations as part of a Chinese state-led infrastructure project. Officials had claimed the project, completed last July, met “European standards”. Since the disaster in Novi Sad, 15-minute silent protests have been held regularly, both there, and nationwide. So far 13 people, including a former construction minister, have been charged with endangering public safety.

From 11:52 am, the time of day the roof collapsed, crowds held a 15-minute silence at the Serbian government building, the New Belgrade municipality building and other locations in Belgrade, before reconvening around the Usce Shopping Mall. Crowds also protested outside the offices of the national broadcaster RTS.

Students have also been blockading university buildings for nearly two months, sparked by the November 22 attack on a protester outside the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. Beyond Belgrade and Novi Sad, demonstrations were also held in Nis, Zajecar, Valjevo, Sombor, Kraljevo, Pozega, and even Jagodina, where the ruling party had planned a counter rally.

Vucic feels heat as demonstrators demand reforms

The demonstrations highlight growing anger at Serbia’s leadership, and since November have become the biggest ever challenge to Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, which came to power in 2012. Demonstrators blame government corruption, negligence, and unsafe practices for the Novi Sad tragedy.

Support for, and participation in, industrial action came from varied corners of Serbian society, from judges who stood outside provincial courthouses, to medics, social workers, and staff at theatres, bookshops, publishers and even a cinema chain. The Independent Union of Culture of Serbia declared that cultural institutions nationwide would close on Friday, and the Yugoslav Film Archive suspended its activities too. IT workers blocked an intersection before joining the main demonstration. Restaurants and cafes that were in opposition to the strike gave out free drinks; however

A female student overseeing security was struck by a motorist who had reportedly attempted to drive through the crowd, been stopped by protesters, and then accelerated, flooring and injuring the student. The driver, identified as M.S., 26, was detained by police. Local media reported that she is under investigation for attempted murder.

Slovakia at boiling point over PM’s Russia links

Slovakia likewise saw mass protests on Friday as citizens in over 20 cities rallied against the pro-Russia policies of Fico’s government. Media estimates suggest approximately 100,000 people participated nationwide on Friday, including some 60,000 in Freedom Square, Bratislava, double previous turnouts.

Protesters began assembling late afternoon, chanting “Enough of Fico” and “Treason”. Participants carried Slovakia, EU and NATO flags and banners with slogans such as “We are Europe” and “We want to live decently and without lies”.

Beyond the capital, protest sizes have been increasing in cities such as Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, (from 6,000 to 10,000 in 2 weeks), while organisers had initially expected 30,000 in Bratislava, and were overwhelmed by the turnout to the event, which was peaceful and only briefly interrupted by a power outage on the stage. Organisers plan another rally on 6 February.

The protests remained peaceful despite accusations from Fico and Slovak President Peter Pellegrini that they threatened national security and could escalate into a coup attempt, a claim that organisers dismissed as baseless. Fico and Pellegrini both claimed groups were attempting to destabilise Slovakia with foreign backing.

Protests have been held regularly in Slovakia since 23 December, the day after Fico’s visit to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some Slovaks view that meeting as a betrayal of the country’s Western alliances. A 47-year-old protester draped in an EU flag told reporters: “I marched with my father against communism in 1989, and now, I’m back, fighting for democracy.”

“There’s no truth to the prime minister’s or president’s claims,” said Lucia Stasselova from the civil organisation Peace to Ukraine. Another organiser said Fico was employing similar rhetoric to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and other pro-Kremlin politicians, and that Slovakia is on the same path.

On Tuesday, Fico faced a no-confidence vote in Parliament, which was withdrawn by the opposition after he demanded the session be held in secret. Fico cited a report from Slovakia’s intelligence agency, SIS, warning of a potential uprising akin to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan Revolution.

Michal Simecka, leader of the opposition Progressive Slovakia party, called Fico’s claims paranoid. “He’s seeing threats that don’t exist,” Simecka said, accusing the government of weaponising the SIS for political purposes.

Montenegrins protest gun laws after mass shooting

Elsewhere in CEE, around 1,000km south of Bratislava, thousands of protesters, including many students, staged their third rally of the month in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica on Saturday 25 January. Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Serbian Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic and Serbian Deputy Prime Minister for Security Aleksa Becic for what they deem as police failures and a resultant ineffectual response to the mass shooting in Cetinje, near the Adriatic coast, which left 13 people dead on 1 January.

The rally began with a 13-minute silence for the victims before protesters marched from the Interior Ministry building to Parliament. The protesters called for an armistice of illegally held weapons, stricter gun permit laws, improved police efficiency, and better mental health care, and have given Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic until 1 February to reply.

In response to the shooting, the government announced a raft of new gun-control measures on 3 January, after a 7-hour National Security Council session chaired by the president. A proposed law, announced by Spajic, would mandate the re-registering of gun licenses and impose severe penalties on those who fail to surrender illegal weapons within two months.

Under the legislation, hunting clubs would also be inspected and a hotline for citizens to anonymously report people with illegal weapons, with financial incentives. Montenegro has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe, with an estimated 140-245,000 firearms in use in the country of just over 620,000 people, although estimates vary.

Athens demands accountability for rail disaster

Athens – and other Greek cities – has seen a surge in public demonstrations as tens of thousands gathered outside Parliament to demand accountability for a train collision that claimed 57 lives nearly 2 years ago.

The incident involved a passenger train and a freight train near Thessaloniki, north Greece, exposed long-held concerns over the nation’s rail infrastructure and safety levels. Families of the victims continue to call for justice, as the investigation remains unresolved with no clear accountability shown.

Many believe that the failure to bring those responsible to account reflects deeper systemic failures in governance and public safety policy. The government meanwhile maintains that it is committed to improving rail safety. However progress has been slow and critics argue that political leaders have failed to address the core issues of oversight and negligence.

Clashes broke out between demonstrators and police in Athens, but the rallies elsewhere were peaceful. The victims’ families have vowed to take legal action if necessary.