Serbian Youth Would Vote, but 47 Percent Plan to Leave

The National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS) presented the tenth edition of its Alternative Report on the status and needs of young people on August 12 at the Press Center of the Serbian Journalists’ Association. The report finds that 89.8 percent of young people with the right to vote would cast a ballot if elections were held the following week. The same report shows that, for the first time since 2017, more than half of young Serbians support the country’s accession to the European Union.

The survey was conducted between April and June of this year on a sample of 1,186 respondents aged 15 to 30. The sample was stratified by age, gender and region of residence, and the questionnaire contained 98 questions covering political and social participation, education, employment, safety and health. KOMS brings together 106 organizations of and for young people and has published the report since 2017, making this year’s edition the first measurement taken after a year and a half of protests, more than 20,000 of which, according to the report, were held across Serbia.

53.1 percent of young people support Serbia’s accession to the European Union, 26.9 percent oppose it, and 19.9 percent are undecided. That is the highest level of support for membership since the survey began. For the first time, the largest single group, 40 percent, believes foreign policy should primarily rely on the European Union, while 32 percent favor balancing between East and West.

High Turnout, No Sense of Influence

Willingness to vote is not matched by any belief that voting changes anything. 84.8 percent of respondents believe Serbia’s political system gives young people no ability at all to influence political processes and decisions. 84.5 percent of young people support the activities of the student movement, and around 58 percent signed a petition or a citizens’ initiative over the past year.

“Nearly seven in ten young people took part in some form of protest,” said Milica Borjanic, secretary general of the National Youth Council of Serbia, at the report’s presentation.

Attitudes toward the form of government itself are also shifting. 53.9 percent of young people see democracy as the best system, 39.6 percent believe Serbia needs a strong leader, and 45.6 percent believe it does not. The report notes that these views differ significantly from findings in the years before 2025.

Who Else Enjoys Young People’s Trust?

Practically no one from politics. Young people express high trust only in students, scientists and science, and no other institution scores above three on average. Non governmental organizations, the army, the church and youth offices are the only ones scoring above two, while political institutions score between 1.16 and 1.20. Ministries responsible for youth affairs scored below 1.5.

Among individuals, the highest trust goes to University of Belgrade rector Vladan Djokic, with a score of 2.4, up from 2.08 last year. Patriarch Porfirije’s score rose from 1.44 to 1.55, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s from 1.11 to 1.15.

The Cost of Living Has Overtaken Unemployment

The list of problems young people identify on their own looks different than it did ten years ago:

• the high cost of living, 82.6 percent
• corruption, 76.9 percent
• lack of democracy and justice, 71.3 percent

Unemployment, which was the top problem in 2017 at 89.1 percent, now stands at 35.8 percent. The number of unemployed young people is 62,437, about 133,000 fewer than in 2014. Velimir Milosev, chairman of the governing board of the National Youth Council of Serbia, said at the presentation that young people in Serbia are “disenfranchised, poor and humiliated,” and that few measures of quality of life have improved over the past decade. Asked how the number of unemployed had then fallen, he said:

Unemployment is a good example. If you remember what it was like ten to fifteen years ago, unemployment really was a major problem, and we solved it. But how did we solve it? By having a very large number of young people work under non-standard contracts, for miserable wages that cannot cover basic living costs.

The report’s data point in the same direction. 55 percent of employed young people do not work in the field they trained for, and another 11 percent hold jobs only partly related to their education. Young people estimate that a decent life requires more than 130,000 dinars a month, while the average salary is 121,650 dinars. More than a quarter believe they will never be able to buy their own home.

The Door to Leaving Stays Open

47 percent of young people plan to emigrate from Serbia, and another 42 percent do not currently plan to leave but do not rule out the possibility. More than 75 percent of those considering a move name a European country as their destination. The reason they most often give for staying is a wish to change the country so that it becomes decent to live and work in.

31.3 percent of young people rate their mental health as poor, 36 percent did not feel well during most of the period covered by the survey, and 50.3 percent believe professional help is not sufficiently accessible.

Alongside the findings, KOMS published a set of recommendations aimed at decision makers and institutions. Milosev said that partial measures would not be enough.

It seems to me that, taking into account all these problems we are facing, we need to carry out radical change. The response to the depth of the crisis we are in must be as large as the crisis itself.