{"id":2027,"date":"2025-03-21T09:24:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T08:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gradjanske.vuksha.com\/maja-stojanovic-on-the-student-protests-in-the-christian-amanpour-show-on-cnn\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:28:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T11:28:52","slug":"maja-stojanovic-on-the-student-protests-in-the-christian-amanpour-show-on-cnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gradjanske.vuksha.com\/en\/maja-stojanovic-on-the-student-protests-in-the-christian-amanpour-show-on-cnn\/","title":{"rendered":"Maja Stojanovi\u0107 on the student protests in the Christian Amanpour show on CNN"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The executive director of “Civil Initiatives”, Maja Stojanovi\u0107, was a guest on CNN, where in an interview with Christian Amanpour, she talked about the student protests in Serbia, the current political situation and the role of civil society.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

“This is the biggest protest ever. We are now witnessing people on the streets in more than 300-400 places in Serbia. This actually means that in every city, in every small village, in every municipality, people stand up to fight against corruption and for the rule of law.” <\/p>\n\n

What is actually different compared to previous protests is that these protests are led by young people. We never had that in Serbia. “I think that in the whole world it is rare to see that young people from universities, high school students, even elementary school students actually go to the streets and demand responsibility from the authorities,” said Stojanovi\u0107. <\/p>\n\n

Speaking about the fall of the canopy at the train station in Novi Sad when 15 people lost their lives, Stojanovi\u0107 said that it was a “strong trigger”, but also reminded that the same train station was opened by the government a few months before the tragedy “as the biggest and most important and most beautiful train station”. “So basically, people automatically associated corruption and what happened during the renovation of the train station with the death of people. The main slogan of the protest, actually, from the beginning was corruption kills,” she said. <\/p>\n\n

So it was completely different from the various protests that we’ve had because of rigged elections or environmental protests or any other protests. It was led by young people. They use a completely different methodology. <\/p>\n\n

When asked what the current situation says about the government and whether Serbian President Vu\u010di\u0107 and the government are trying to suppress the protests, Stojanovi\u0107 said that for more than a decade we have had a “captured state”:<\/p>\n\n

“We didn’t have separation of powers. It’s total control of the media, full control of the judiciary. So basically, right now we have a government that’s trying to stay in power, building on these undemocratic processes and undemocratic governance for years. So right now, we have a huge crackdown on civil society. We have a huge crackdown on protesters. We have a prosecutor’s office bringing charges against civil society just because Donald Trump and Elon Musk said that USAID is a corrupt and criminal organization. So basically, we’re facing, right now, with enormous pressure on citizens. We have had, as Citizens’ Initiatives, more than 2,000 cases of pressure on students, as well as arrests of young people. My family and I have been directly threatened by the president, so basically all national stations and public services maintain this message that we are the ones organizing the “Coloured Revolution”. But there is no logic in that, because the largest amount of money that USAID gave was actually given to the Government of Serbia, and civil society and non-governmental groups receive five to seven percent of that money.” <\/p>\n\n

Donald Trump Jr. was in Serbia. His photos with President Vu\u010di\u0107 are everywhere. We know the Trumps and son-in-law Jared Kushner have businesses there. They want to build a big hotel in Belgrade. What do you think President Vu\u010di\u0107 gets from this association with the Trumps? How is he now using it to his advantage in Belgrade, in Serbia? <\/em><\/p>\n\n

“Well, he uses everything he can. He used Erdogan’s way of governing, he used Orban, and now he is very happy that such a big and important country actually sends the same messages. So this is actually a message to the citizens of Serbia. When Trump’s son comes here, it is a message that family is important, that governments are run by family. So, it is an invitation and support for nepotism. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

It is an invitation and support for corruption. And it’s very difficult. You can imagine how much harder it is for us to fight internally with these kinds of messages being sent from powers that used to be democratic. We still hope, I will say that, that there is a lot of potential in the USA to remain democratic. But at this moment what is coming is a message from the USA, people connected to the USA, not only Trump’s son, but also Giuliani was recently, and they are sending a message that is dangerous for democracy in Serbia but also for regional stability, and keep in mind that we are still a post-conflict region.” <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Watch the entire interview in the video attachment:<\/p>\n\n

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