Student-led protests pose the gravest threat to Serbian strongman Aleksandar Vucic’s 14 years in power, with over 100,000 taking to the streets of Belgrade and cities across Serbia, calling out systemic corruption throughout the government.

March 15 saw what many believe to be the largest crowds in Serbia’s recent history, with an estimated 300,000 people marching in the center of Belgrade.  

Serbian President Vucic, who remains close to Russia, has remained defiant, ignoring calls to step down and accusing the protest movement of planning violent attacks and stoking a civil war.

Many experts and observers of the Balkans were disappointed in the Biden administration’s regional policy, claiming that the administration appeased the Vucic regime and refused to call out his antidemocratic practices. The efforts to sway Vucic and maintain close ties to Belgrade were seen as integral to the Serbia-Kosovo normalization process and their path toward European Union ascension. 

Serbian President Vucic, who remains close to Russia, has remained defiant, ignoring calls to step down and accusing the protest movement of planning violent attacks and stoking a civil war. (Milos Miskov/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A former high-ranking diplomat with expert knowledge of the Balkans told Fox News Digital that Vucic wrongly portrays the protesters as inspired and led by the “globalist elite,” hoping to gain the attention and support of President Trump. 

If President Trump wants a quick, cheap win for him and the U.S. in the Balkans, the diplomat said Trump should shift the U.S. regional posture from appeasing Vucic to containing him. Such a posture in Serbia will show that the U.S. is not kidding in the Balkans and wants a peaceful solution to simmering conflicts while utilizing the “peace through strength” doctrine.