Serbia: ​​European civil society stands in solidarity with the people of Serbia​

10/03/2025
Statement
Stefan Kostić via Unsplash

We, representatives of European civil society from across the continent, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, express our deep concern over the rapid escalation of restrictions, attacks, and repression against civil society in Serbia and call on the Serbian authorities to stop them.

10 March 2025. The latest illegal police raid on five leading non-governmental organisations represents a stark and deeply troubling intensification of the systemic effort to silence critical voices and suppress fundamental freedoms. This targeted assault underscores the growing crackdown on organisations that directly empower citizens to participate in public life and hold authorities accountable.

We stand in unwavering solidarity with the people of Serbia who are courageously resisting state oppression and systemic misgovernance. The mass protests were sparked by the tragic collapse of the newly renovated train station in Novi Sad on 1 November 2024, which claimed 15 lives and left two others seriously injured. This disastrous incident laid bare the authorities’ systemic corruption and negligence, which is why the protests demand systemic change in addition to the government taking responsibility for the tragedy. The Serbian government has responded to these legitimate expressions of grief and outrage with increasing repression against civil society.

The scale of state violence and intimidation is deeply alarming. Dozens of attacks on protesters have been documented, including vehicles being driven into crowds and the brutal assault of a female student by ruling party activists. These examples illustrate the lengths to which the government is willing to go to quash dissent and deny responsibility for the disaster. Those who express support for the movement — students, professors, activists, and independent voices — are accused of acting on behalf of foreign interests and face threats, surveillance, police interrogations, and losing their job.

These attacks are not new. For over a decade, Serbia’s political leadership has steered the country away from democratic values and the commitments required for EU integration. Civic space in Serbia rated as "obstructed" by the CIVICUS Monitor, underscoring the longstanding challenges faced by those committed to this path. These trends are part of an authoritarian playbook that we have come to know and experience in our EU countries too.

Yet, in the face of this repression, the resilience of Serbian society inspires us and gives us hope. The protests, which have spread to at least 245 cities and towns, have drawn tens of thousands — sometimes up to 100,000 people — onto the streets. The broad support enjoyed by the movement from trade unions, farmers, the bar association, private businesses, and self-organised citizens, shows how rooted it is in the Serbian society. It is the largest mobilisation in Serbia in decades, signalling the strength of civil society and the unyielding spirit of the Serbian people in their struggle for democracy and justice.

All our struggles, in each of our countries, are interconnected and the strength of this movement is another brick in our collective power. The Serbian people’s fight for democracy, transparency, and human rights is also a fight for the fundamental values upon which the EU itself claims to be built. But the EU’s failure to act decisively has contributed to the deepening distrust among Serbian citizens towards the European path, weakening the enlargement process as a whole, and discrediting the EU’s external policy. Clearer messages and concrete actions are urgently needed to show citizens and civil society organisations that they are not alone in this fight, and that the EU truly upholds the values it claims to stand for.

We stand in solidarity with the people of Serbia in their pursuit of a shared democratic future, and we call on European leaders to do the same.

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  • Co-signatories

    1. European Civic Forum (coordinator) 
    2. Balkan Civil Society Development Network (coordinator) 
    3. Ökotárs-Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation — Hungary 
    4. Civil Society Development Foundation (CSDF) — Romania 
    5. Platforma dobrovoľníykch centier a organizácií — Slovakia 
    6. CIVIL – Center for Freedom — North Macedonia 
    7. Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) — United Kingdom 
    8. Society for Threatened Peoples/Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker — Germany 
    9. RECLAIM (reclaiming.eu) — EU 
    10. ARCI — Italy 
    11. Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law — Bulgaria 
    12. Humanitas – centre for global learning and cooperation — Slovenia 
    13. Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre — Ireland 
    14. Irídia – Human Rights Defense Centre — Spain 
    15. BlueLink foundation — Bulgaria 
    16. Migrant Tales — Finland 
    17. Community Rights in Greece — Greece 
    18. Democracy International — International 
    19. Umanotera — Slovenia 
    20. Association for Culture, Education and Communication (ACEC) — Slovakia 
    21. APADOR-CH — Romania 
    22. Ekopolis Foundation — Slovakia 
    23. Rada mládeže Slovenska — Slovakia 
    24. Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans — Serbia 
    25. Media Diversity Institute Global — Belgium 
    26. Carpathian Foundation Slovakia — Slovakia 
    27. League for Mental Health in Slovakia — Slovakia 
    28. MEMO 98 — Slovakia 
    29. Nadace na ochranu zvířat — Czech Republic 
    30. Centar za promociju civilnog drustva — Bosnia and Herzegovina 
    31. Netherlands Helsinki Committee — Netherlands 
    32. Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) — Kosovo 
    33. Inklucity — Slovakia 
    34. Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia — Slovakia 
    35. Pravo na grad — Croatia 
    36. Kosova Womens Network — Kosovo 
    37. Lëvizja FOL / FOL Movement — Kosovo 
    38. Centar za građanske inicijative Poreč — Croatia 
    39. Institute for Development Policy – INDEP — Kosovo 
    40. CESI – Centar za edukaciju, savjetovanje i istraživanje — Croatia 
    41. Partners Albania for Change and Development — Albania 
    42. Rainbow Families Croatia — Croatia 
    43. Association for Civil Society Development SMART — Croatia 
    44. Slovak Governance Institute — Slovakia 
    45. Community Development Fund-CDF — Kosovo 
    46. CO2 — Croatia 
    47. Mentor Vrajolli — Kosovo 
    48. European Network for Citizen Initiatives in Global Solidarity —EU 
    49. Fundusz Partnerstwa — Poland 
    50. Stowarzyszenie Greenways Polska — Poland 
    51. Art Kontakt — Albania 
    52. Social Contract Institute — Albania 
    53. Social Contract Institute — Albania 
    54. Environmental center for Development Education and Networking (EDEN) — Albania 
    55. Help the Life Association — Albania 
    56. NetRDA — Albania 
    57. Beyond Barriers Association — Albania 
    58. Albanian Women Empowerment Network — Albania 
    59. Albania Community Assist — Albania 
    60. Group for Legal and Political Studies — Kosovo 
    61. Statewatch — International 
    62. Center Science and Innovation for Development (SCiDEV) — Albania 
    63. Plesna udruga Tiramola — Croatia 
    64. Organic Agriculture and Environment Association — Albania 
    65. Voice of Roma in Albania — Albania 
    66. Civil Liberties Union for Europe — Germany 
    67. Youth for Youth — Romania 
    68. Iskorak — Croatia 
    69. BlueLink Foundation — Bulgaria 
    70. Rrjeti per Demokraci i Gruas Shqiperi — Albania 
    71. Irish Council for Civil Liberties — Ireland 
    72. Association No limit pets — Romania 
    73. PIC – Legal Center for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment — Slovenia 
    74. Albanian Center for Population and Development — Albania 
    75. Defending Democracy Initiative — EU 
    76. DokuFest — Kosovo 
    77. Danes je nov dan, Inštitut za druga vprašanja — Slovenia 
    78. Multimedijalna koliba — Croatia 
    79. La Strada International — Netherlands 
    80. Vatra Psycho-Social Center — Albania 
    81. Centre for peace, nonviolence and human rights-Osijek — Croatia 
    82. Nerea Bellomo Corpa — Netherlands 
    83. Mareena — Slovakia 
    84. RADKA — Czech Republic 
    85. CIOFF ALBANIA — Albania 
    86. NEW EUROPEAN PEOPLE’S FORUM — EU 
    87. Politiscope — Croatia 
    88. European Institute foundation — Bulgaria 
    89. European Youth Forum — EU 
    90. Focus Association for Sustainable Development — Slovenia 
    91. Association of Youth Information and Counseling Centers in the Slovak Republic — Slovakia 
    92. My Brain My Choice Initiative — Germany 
    93. Finnish Development NGOs Fingo — Finland 
    94. Transparency International Slovenia — Slovenia 
    95. Impact: Center against Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence in Conflict — Netherlands 
    96. ILGA-Europe — EU 
    97. COSPE — EU 
    98. Life Quality Improvement Organisation FLIGHT — Croatia 
    99. Young European Federalists (JEF) — EU 
    100. International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) — International 
    101. European Policy Institute of Kosovo — Kosovo 
    102. DRUŠTVO ZA ISTRAŽIVANJE I POTPORU – DIP — Croatia 
    103. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) — France 
    104. Counselling Line for Women and Girls Albania 
    105. Baltic Human Rights Society — Latvia 
    106. VIDA — Portugal 
    107. Plataforma Portuguesa das ONGD — Portugal 
    108. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders — International 
    109. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders — International 
    110. European Movement in Albania — Albania 
    111. Women’s Room 
    112. SOLIDAR — EU 
    113. SOS Malta — Malta 
    114. Bits of Freedom — Netherlands 
    115. Women’s Rights Agenda Belarus — Belarus 
    116. Kooperativa-regional platform for culture — EU 
    117. DOOR (Društvo za oblikovanje održivog razvoja) — Croatia 
    118. Forumi Civil Selenicë — Albania 
    119. Shoqata e Perdoruesve te Burimeve Natyrore Velcan Pogradec Albania — Albania 
    120. PPNEA — Albania 
    121. Ana Maria Acostăchioaei — Romania 
    122. Centre for Peace Studies — Croatia 
    123. Open Gate/La Strada — North Macedonia 
    124. National Youth Council of Serbia — Serbia 
    125. European Network against Racism — EU 
    126. Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity — Croatia 
    127. Croatian Youth Network — Croatia 
    128. Prešovské dobrovoľnícke centrum — Slovakia 
    129. Slagalica – zaklada za razvoj lokalne zajednice (Community Foundation Slagalica) — Croatia 
    130. Metamorphosis Foundation for Internet and Society — North Macedonia 
    131. BIOM Association — Croatia 
    132. ERA LGBTI ASSOCIATION FOR WESTERN BALKANS AND TURKIYE

  • Member organisations - Serbia

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