{"id":469360,"date":"2026-10-27T12:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T11:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/10\/27\/intervista-la-festa-di-antic-attivista-serba-in-esilio-tra-i-fondatori-di-stav-nutro-grandi-speranze\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T13:16:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T12:16:27","slug":"interview-antic-celebrates-serbian-activist-in-exile-and-stav-co-founder-i-have-high-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/10\/27\/interview-antic-celebrates-serbian-activist-in-exile-and-stav-co-founder-i-have-high-hopes\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW \/ Anti\u0107 celebrates: Serbian activist in exile and STAV co-founder: “I have high hopes”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013When your own country says \u2018no\u2019 to an authoritarian president, you\u2019d like to be there, take to the streets and celebrate, but in Doroteja Anti\u0107\u2019s case, that wasn\u2019t possible. Anti\u0107 is a Serbian activist and one of the founders of Students Against the Authoritarian Regime (STAV)<\/strong>, the movement that, over the past two years, has spearheaded mass protests<\/a> against corruption and the anti-democratic drift of Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s government. On Sunday (25 October), the Student List secured 52.5 per cent of the vote<\/a> and 140 seats in Parliament, ahead of Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s United Serbia party, which conceded defeat. \u201cIt is clear that we have lost these elections,\u201d admitted the prime ministerial candidate, who saw his chances of a new term in office vanish. A graduate in communications, Anti\u0107<\/strong> in March was <\/strong>accused of attempting<\/strong><\/a> to \u201cviolently overthrow the constitutional order\u201d and has since been living in exile in Croatia<\/strong>, where she has been able to remain thanks to an EU law transposed by Croatia that guarantees protection for human rights defenders. Speaking from Zagreb, the activist explained to Eunews the significance of these elections.<\/p>\n

\"Doroteja<\/a>
Doroteja Anti\u0107. Credits: Doroteja Anti\u0107<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n

Eunews: What does the victory of the Student List signify? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Doroteja Anti\u0107:<\/strong> \u201cNobody expected things to turn out exactly like this. We thought the students might have the upper hand, but not like this: it\u2019s an extraordinary success. It represents a first step towards freedom, and people are finally feeling a sense of relief. It\u2019s something that everyone \u2013 or at least everyone I know, a huge number of people in Serbia and the diaspora \u2013 has been waiting for for fifteen years. It\u2019s spectacular, and I\u2019m still at a loss for words.\u201d<\/p>\n

 E.: Will this victory have an impact on the presidential elections due to take place in two months?<\/strong> <\/p>\n

D.A.:  <\/strong>\u201cSunday\u2019s elections were the most important ones. As for the presidential elections, under the Serbian Constitution, the president has a largely symbolic role, and Vu\u010di\u0107 has clearly failed to respect the Constitution. In fact, he has behaved like a dictator and an all-powerful leader, constantly acting beyond his remit, but that is not how it should work. Last Sunday\u2019s elections are significant because they will determine the prime minister, the country’s most powerful figure. We do not yet know how the presidential elections will turn out. We hope for the best in light of what happened on Sunday. I believe, however, that we can be less concerned.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

E.: Could this victory bring Serbia closer to the European Union?<\/strong> <\/p>\n

D.A.: <\/strong>“I really hope so. Having defeated the right-wing nationalist party, there is now greater scope to tackle certain issues and, for example, to resume negotiations with the EU \u2013 which have been at a standstill since 2021 and were constantly obstructed by the now former government. We can now look to the future with greater optimism. However, this is not the main objective, nor is it the central issue at the moment. The top priority is to free up the institutions and tackle the most urgent issues facing the country. Only after resolving some of these critical issues will we be able to discuss the resumption of negotiations and, perhaps, the opening of a new negotiating chapter within the framework of the EU accession process.\u201d <\/p>\n

E.: I know it\u2019s still early days, but what do you think the first steps will be over the coming months?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 D.A.:<\/strong> “First and foremost, we must address the media, given that press freedom in Serbia has been in a dire state for years. Just yesterday, there were signs of this. There is a strong desire among the population to shut down certain tabloids and media outlets that are aligned with the regime. This is, among other things, one of the most serious problems we have had to deal with, as these organisations served as propaganda machines, causing profound harm to many people in various ways. Next, we must turn our attention to the judicial system. It will be very difficult, but we must take action against many people guilty of various forms of fraud and numerous cases of corruption, such as in the case of the collapse of the shelter at Novi Sad railway station.\u201d  <\/p>\n

E.: What does the student movement think of Mladi\u0107\u2019s funeral? Does it want to sweep this chapter of Serbian history under the carpet? <\/strong><\/p>\n

D.A.:<\/strong> “There\u2019s nothing to hide; it happened in full view of everyone. It\u2019s been reported in the media across Europe. I\u2019m convinced that most supporters of the student movement do not approve of what happened because it was a humiliation for a section of the nation. To be clear, I am not an official member of the Student List, so I am speaking in a personal capacity: what we witnessed was humiliating. It was terrible. I would also like to point out that the majority of those present at Mladi\u0107\u2019s funeral \u2013 a convicted war criminal \u2013 were also supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party. Having finally won, I really hope we will no longer see scenes like that.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

E. Are you hoping to return to Serbia soon?<\/strong> <\/p>\n

D.A.: “<\/strong>I cannot go because our situation has not yet been resolved. The trial brought against us for attempting to subvert the constitutional order is still ongoing. In fact, there is still a national arrest warrant out for us. So, for now, it wouldn\u2019t be safe to return. However, I hope this issue will be resolved in the very near future. With the change of government, I have high hopes.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speaking from Croatia, where she has been living for over a year, she shares in her compatriots\u2019 joy at the election result in Serbia and, regarding the forthcoming presidential elections, offers reassurance: \u201cLet\u2019s hope for the best, in light of what happened on Sunday. I believe, however, that we can be less concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":469334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[29788],"tags":[25816,30529,26065,36386,27334,36387,32441,36388,26071,36389,33394],"class_list":["post-469360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diritti-en","tag-activist-en","tag-alexandar-vucic-en","tag-antic","tag-enlargement","tag-movimento-studenti","tag-presidenziali","tag-primo-ministro","tag-inserbia","tag-stav","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":469361,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469360\/revisions\/469361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}