Tijana Mirić, a student at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, represented Serbia before the European Congress in Strasbourg, where she delivered an emotional speech to young people from almost every European country about the two-year struggle of Serbian students. Speaking about the protests that followed the tragedy in Novi Sad, student blockades and the months-long fight for institutional accountability, Tijana emphasized the importance of solidarity among young people around the world, stressing that others should also follow the example set by Serbian students.
The youth congress is held twice a year, and the 50th and 51st congresses took place this March and October. In an interview with Nova.rs, student Tijana Mirić revealed that an acquaintance had sent her the application form after noticing her giving a statement to N1 while walking to Novi Sad.
“I’m the one who cried (laughs). She saw that and advised me to submit an application explaining how I was fighting for the student blockades. My application concerned the student struggle, but all the countries are represented there, so I couldn’t talk only about that. For example, in March I spoke about obstetric violence. I gave a speech that was in line with the agenda at the time.”
The 51st congress took place right in the middle of the election process in Serbia, giving Tijana an opportunity to deliver a genuine victory speech before representatives of young people from across Europe.
“We were once again given permission to make a statement, and the delegate from Turkey and I gave speeches. The topic was related to student protests across Europe and their background. She spoke generally about all the countries and what was happening, and then she concluded by saying, ‘Now you’re going to hear how protests in one country actually managed to win,’ and introduced me. I went up to the podium and spoke for three and a half minutes. It was very emotional for me, and when I repeated that we had won, I started crying again, and everyone applauded. After my speech ended, the entire Congress stood up and applauded. It was an incredible feeling.”
Tijana added that many delegates approached her after the speech to talk to her and congratulate her.
“What’s interesting is that we are one of only two countries in Europe that do not have a delegation. I am an independent delegate, but I don’t have my own team like the other countries,” Tijana said, adding that before participating, she had looked into who would be part of her delegation. Since, according to her, most of them were members of the Serbian Progressive Party, she did not want to travel to Strasbourg with them.
“None of them even contacted me, but it’s better this way. I felt relieved when I found out I would be going without a delegation, because there might have been a problem otherwise,” the student added.
Tijana also revealed that one of the most emotional moments came after her speech, when a member of Malta’s delegation approached her and revealed that he had been among those who selected her as Serbia’s delegate. They both burst into tears.
“We are an example for other countries where similar things are happening. At the end of my speech, I also mentioned young people from Greece, France, Albania, Georgia and other countries, and called on them to follow our example in everything we have done over the past two years. I don’t think there could be a more peaceful movement than ours. Our movement did everything without violence and without falling for provocations; every student protest passed peacefully. There is no other way — we just have to be patient,” Tijana concluded.
We present the full speech by the young Serbian student below:
“Over the past two years, Serbia has witnessed an extraordinary wave of solidarity and courage among its young people.
It all began on November 1, 2024, when sixteen people lost their lives in the collapse of a canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad.
Students across Serbia blockaded their faculties, demanding that institutions take responsibility and respond to their demands. As the movement grew, so did our determination. Students walked hundreds of kilometers from one city to another, connecting communities along the way, while hundreds of thousands of citizens joined demonstrations across the country.
Amid the protests, sixteen minutes of silence became one of the most powerful symbols of our struggle, commemorating each of the lives lost in Novi Sad.
In April 2025, eighty students cycled almost 1,400 kilometers from Novi Sad to Strasbourg to present their demands to European institutions. Their journey showed just how far students were willing to go to make their voices heard.
Behind these extraordinary moments were countless difficult ones: exhaustion, fear, uncertainty, and the constant question of whether anything would ever change. Yet young people did not give up. They continued to show up, often putting themselves in danger, because they believed their country’s future was worth fighting for.
Through months of discussions and collective decision-making, students formed the Student List, selecting 250 candidates from different professional backgrounds, including university professors, doctors, academics, artists and engineers, whose knowledge and experience could contribute to public life.
And just two days ago, on October 25, the Student List won the parliamentary elections.
For young people who had spent two years fighting for accountability, this was a moment filled with hope. But winning an election does not mean the struggle is over.
The challenges ahead of us are enormous. The movement has already had to face disagreements and difficult decisions within its own ranks. Political influence remains deeply entrenched, and turning a broad movement into lasting and accountable change will require patience and the ability to learn how to operate within political institutions without losing the values that brought people into the streets.
Today, here in Strasbourg, we stand in solidarity with youth movements across Europe and the world, with young people who continue to defend their rights and their future.
Their voices deserve to be heard, their rights protected, and their ideas taken seriously.
Governments must listen to young people, work with them, and enable them to play a meaningful role in shaping their own future.
And somewhere in the world tonight, another young person may be returning home from a protest, exhausted and uncertain, but still full of hope.
May Albania, the United Kingdom, France, Greece, Georgia, Spain, Croatia, Italy and other countries around the world find the same courage that guided us over these two years.
And may they one day look back and realize that every step they took, every time they raised their voices, and every moment they refused to give up helped build a future worth believing in.”
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Source: Nova.rs, Foto: Printscreen Video
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