The results of the online survey “Your opinion on the student protests!”, published on 30 December 2024 (a convenience sample of 1,389 respondents), describe the mood of an active segment of the public that chose to complete the questionnaire.
The most striking finding is strong support for the student protests: 90.06% of respondents hold a positive view, while 7.20% rate the protests negatively. At the same time, respondents are highly critical of the situation in the country: 93.52% rate the rule of law and the fight against corruption negatively, 81.71% assess the economic situation negatively, and 88.34% assess the state of the environment negatively. On strategic issues, 70.19% support Serbia’s EU membership, while lithium mining and processing is rejected almost plebiscitarily—86.97% express a negative view.
What, in respondents’ opinion, sparked the protests? The most frequently cited triggers are the non-functioning of institutions (28.22%) and systemic corruption (25.63%), followed by the absence of the rule of law (12.96%) and the accident at the Novi Sad railway station (12.31%). A smaller share mentions foreign influence (3.96%), indicating the presence of competing narratives.
As an “outcome” they would consider satisfactory, the largest group selects a change of government (29.16%), while 17.93% hope for a general strike leading to a transitional government. Most respondents do not see the filing of indictments against 13 people in the case of the canopy collapse as meeting the students’ demands: 69.47% say “no,” while 15.41% say it is only one of the demands.
When asked on whom achieving the desired outcome depends, respondents most often point to citizens (38.80%), followed by the public prosecution service (13.97%) and students (10.94%). An optimistic tone exists, but without a timeline: 40.39% believe change will happen but do not know when, while 17.85% are unsure and 9.50% do not believe the desired outcome will be achieved.
The sample structure indicates the profile of participants: 68.47% male, predominantly aged 36–55, with high levels of education (62.71% university degree or higher), and with the largest share of respondents from Belgrade (46.29%).