Since February 13, daily protests have been taking place in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are led by informal groups and involve thousands of citizens, calling for a change to the overall system of governance and for greater accountability on the part of public officials.
What is new is that they are being driven by young people aged between 17 and 20, a generation often believed to be focused on social media and gaming and largely uninterested in social and political affairs.
Perhaps they are best described by one participant, who said: “I don’t need my parents to excuse my absences from school, but I’m not foolish enough to tell my children one day that I was running to school to be tested on history while history itself was unfolding in the streets.”
It remains uncertain how the protests will develop. The organisers have announced that, instead of marches, plenary debates will be held; support has been announced from the city of Mostar; the Student Parliament of the University of Sarajevo has said it will join the protests, not as an organiser but with its own demands. The well-known Bosnian influencer Hana Hadziavdagic has called on her colleagues and other public figures to join her at Saturday’s protest, which suggests that the demonstrations will continue into the weekend.