Original article (in Serbian) was published on 21/1/2026; Author: Stefan Kosanović
In an article about the alleged “profile of the average student that takes part in protests”, the tabloid Informer misrepresented the results of a survey conducted by the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory and the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, portraying students involved in protests and blockades as a group for whom “God is not important.” That claim is not supported by the survey’s findings, as only 14.9% of respondents identified themselves as atheists. Informer framed students’ answers, about values they consider important, such as freedom and democracy, within a narrative on religiosity, implicitly presenting those values as being in opposition to faith. Theologian Vukašin Milićević said that religious belief cannot be used as a measure of political engagement and added that the students’ actions demonstrate values that are consistent with Christian teachings.
The tabloid Informer has published an article on its website about what it described as the “profile of the average protest blocker,” citing a study titled “Students in Blockade: From the Lecture Hall to the Street,” conducted by the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory and the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade.
“Blockaders (students) are showing their true face more often – steeped in tycoon-controlled and “anti-Serbian media”, lacking faith, and rejecting everything that does not align with their ideology,” Informer said, presenting this as a conclusion of the research.
In line with the tabloid’s established practice, the article was written in a strongly non-journalistic tone and relied on selective presentation of the findings. Sections critical of the authorities were excluded, while certain results were used to ideologically discredit students, including claims that they value social justice, freedom and democracy, but that, as the article suggests, “God is not important to them.”
That claim was highlighted in the headline and lead, despite not being supported by the survey data. According to the research, only 14.9% of respondents identified as atheists. An additional 6.5% declined to answer the question, while the remaining 78.6% said they believe in God – with some practising their faith, some not, and some identifying as agnostics.
At the end of the article, Informer criticised the students, whom it has repeatedly targeted and labelled with derogatory terms over recent months, for valuing freedom, claiming they would, as the tabloid put it, “ban it for their opponents who report on events in Serbia,” adding that “the first to be targeted would be the media, including Informer.”
The tabloid also cited a finding that only 1.4% of students follow political developments through Informer, and other Serbian pro-government tabloids.
However, numerous other findings from the survey, conducted on a sample of 973 respondents, were left out of the article. According to the data, 84% of respondents believe it is important for religious tolerance to exist in Serbia.
When it comes to political information, 84.5 % cite social media as their primary source, 47.3% follow online newspapers and portals, while only 21.3% rely on television.
The main reasons students gave for participating in the protests include a desire to change a system, they say, led to the collapse of a railway station canopy, cited by 54.9% of respondents, dissatisfaction with the work of state institutions, cited by 37.6%, and the fight against corruption, identified by 33.8%.
A large majority – 86.8% – said they do not feel that politicians address them.
Distrust in the electoral process was also expressed. Only 4% of respondents believe elections in Serbia are free and fair for all participants, while 4.7% trust that votes are counted honestly. By contrast, 94.6% said voters are subjected to pressure or threats, and 95.6% believe that wealthy and powerful actors buy political influence and elections.
Respondents provided answers to these and many other questions that Informer did not consider relevant to publish in its article.
Milićević: Core Christian values are reflected in events of the past year in Serbia
Theologian Vukašin Milićević said he was not surprised by such tabloid coverage and questioned why an individual’s belief in God should matter at all when assessing their political activity.
“In Serbia, when it comes to the sociology of religion and thinking about religion in the public sphere – as in many other crisis regions – there is a phenomenon known as belonging without believing,” Milićević told Raskrikavanje.
“People identify with religious communities simply because, in our case, that is part of their national identity, and often the only thing that distinguishes them from similar groups. Between Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks there is no difference other than religion, right?”, he said.
He said that “the stronger such affiliation becomes without substantive content, the weaker faith is in a meaningful sense in people’s lives”.
“So the fact that in Serbia, I don’t know, around 85% of people declare themselves Orthodox, and more than 90% say they are religious, absolutely does not mean that these are people for whom belonging to a religious community or professing a faith is fully conscious or deeply lived,” Milićević said.
He also recalled images that circulated across the region from Novi Pazar, as well as from villages “that no one has deliberately passed through for decades,” which he said show what matters most in the Christian worldview – love.
“To paraphrase a 20th-century thinker who said this about socialism, it goes something like this: not every socialist has to be a Christian, but every Christian has to be a socialist. The same applies here,” Milićević said. “Not everyone who supports the student movement and student protests in Serbia today has to be a Christian, but I sincerely believe that every Christian must support them if they are truly Christian.”
He added that what students have articulated as their core demand ultimately comes down to a desire for justice and truth.
“And anyone who has ever opened the Gospel knows the place those values occupy in it,” he said.
Milićević also warned about the consequences of abusing religion to discredit and label others in the public sphere.
“This is a cycle we have been living in for 40 years and cannot break out of – not only Serbia, but the entire region,” he said. “That is how you get the kneeling movements in Croatia, football hooligans who terrorise citizens and sell cocaine, and then ban matches from being played because it is a religious holiday. All the evil we have witnessed happens that way – and I hope it is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Mass crimes happen. Genocides happen”, he told in an interview with Raskrikavanje.
Translated in English using AI tools, then thoughtfully refined by a human editor.
