🇷🇸From Serbia With Democracy: What the EU Can Learn From Civic Assemblies
As Serbia works to reinvent its democracy from the ground up, Brussels may have more to learn than it realises
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As European Commissioners and MEPs continue to discuss how to renew and improve democracy across the Union, a remarkable democratic experiment is growing on the streets and squares of Serbia as part of the ongoing protests.
In recent weeks, Serbia has seen the rise of a decentralised organisation with the largest protests in its modern history. This includes the method of zbor (meeting, assembly)—a grassroots meeting place and local level civic assembly method for engagement and decision-making. This development in Serbia has become the most vibrant expression of bottom-up democracy in Europe.
Initially formed to coordinate massive anti-government protests in a decentralised way, civic assemblies in Serbia are the opposite of the technocratic and stability-driven approaches often favored by the Commission.
The irony is striking: while the Commission supports civic participation in principle, it has enabled and supported Aleksandar Vučić’s increasingly authoritarian regime for years. To its credit, the Commission has long acknowledged the need to address the EU’s so-called “democratic deficit” since the 1990s. It has promoted some promising initiatives, such as the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI), which allows EU citizens to propose legislation if they gather enough support across Member States.
The Commission has also funded programs to test citizens' assemblies, local deliberative councils, and participatory budgeting. The Conference on the Future of Europe held between 2021 and 2022, included randomly selected citizens who deliberated on topics ranging from climate policy to digital rights. These efforts reflect the Commission’s awareness that representative democracy alone cannot carry the full weight of legitimacy in a complex, pluralistic Europe.
Yet, for all this talk of participation, the EU’s foreign policy, especially in the Western Balkans, often tells a different story. Nowhere is this more evident than in Serbia. Since 2012, Vučić has consolidated power through media control, electoral manipulation, and repression of dissent.
Vučićs government has hollowed out institutions, sidelined independent journalists, and turned elections into carefully orchestrated rituals. Nevertheless, the Commission has continued to treat Vučić as a stable partner and Serbia as “stabilitocracy”.
By praising “progress” on EU accession, releasing pre-accession funds, and prioritizing regional stability over democratic principles, everything in the name of geopolitics and greedy interests, democracy has too often taken a back seat.
This contradiction is no longer sustainable. In Serbia today, a civic awakening is unfolding, organized not by elites but by many citizens who have lost faith in top-down governance. The zbor assemblies take their name from an old Slavic word for “assembly” or “gathering.” Across towns, villages, and city neighbourhoods, people are coming together to hold open discussions, vote on everyday demands, and mobilize for local, regional, and national topics.
The zbor assemblies were inspired by the student plenums that emerged at Serbian universities in response to corruption and poor education policy. These gatherings embody the best traditions of direct and participatory democracy, characterized by inclusivity, engagement, and freedom from party structures.
When the large protests broke out after a deadly infrastructural collapse in Novi Sad, killing 15 people in late 2024, the plenums provided the organizational blueprint for a nationwide movement.
In Čačak, one of Serbia’s smaller cities, citizens at a local assembly voted to symbolically dismiss their mayor. In Belgrade’s neighborhoods, assemblies have debated the privatization of utilities, environmental concerns, and methods of protest coordination. These are not abstract philosophical debates since they are democracy in motion and practice.
What makes zbor assemblies so significant is that they are not just reactive. Protesters and organizers are calling for Vučić’s resignation and demanding new elections. They envision an alternative democratic architecture that decentralizes power, restores civic trust, and empowers people to have a meaningful say in the decisions that shape their lives.
Many organizers have stated that the assemblies will continue even if a transitional government is formed. In this sense, the protests are not the end but the beginning of a democratic renaissance.
So, where does this leave the Commission? If Brussels is serious about democratic innovation, it must treat civic movements in Serbia as legitimate political actors. This means more than vague statements of support. It means shifting diplomatic focus away from personalities like Vučić toward civil society networks, student coalitions, local associations, and grassroots councils.
It means rethinking the EU’s enlargement strategy to emphasize democratic depth, not just institutional checklists. It also means reflecting on how civic assemblies could inspire reforms within the EU, perhaps through a new wave of municipal assemblies, cross-border councils, or regional forums.
There is also a symbolic challenge. The EU cannot continue to present itself as the guardian of democracy abroad while enabling the consolidation of authoritarian rule in candidate countries. The people protesting in Serbia today are generally not completely Euroskeptics. Many see EU values as the foundation for their demands, but they are growing increasingly frustrated with an EU that seems more comfortable shaking hands with strongmen than amplifying democratic voices. If the EU wants to regain credibility, it must align its foreign policy with its democratic rhetoric.
In many ways, Serbia today is performing a public service for Europe. It is showing that democratic energy is alive, even when institutions fail. It is proven that people will organize themselves when official channels are blocked. It also offers a deliberative, participatory, decentralized governance model that the EU has struggled to implement. It may be time for Brussels to take notes.
The future of European democracy may not come from a white paper or a Commission memo but from a square in Belgrade, Subotica, or Loznica, where citizens reclaim politics not as performance but as actual participation.
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