By Walter Chambers, 27 March 2025
The massive protests that have already lasted six days in Istanbul, the city that sits on the edge of Europe are a vivid reminder of the volatility of this whole region. Yet the mainstream and even left media pay scant attention to what is happening.
Already this year barely a country in south-eastern Europe has been left unscathed by uprisings and conflict, driven by the disgust of ordinary people, in particular the youth, at corruption, authoritarianism and low living standards.
Erdoğan implementing Russian-style regime change
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been struggling, using mass arrests, rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to restore order in Istanbul. It has been seized by mass protests after the arrest of the city’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu.
He has been charged with corruption, aiding the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and leading a criminal organisation. He is the fifth CHP mayor to be dismissed in recent months.
Imamoğlu, leader of the Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) is widely recognised as the main opposition candidate to challenge Erdoğan when the next Presidential election takes place, probably sooner than 2028.
The CHP presents itself as a Kemalist, ‘social-democratic’ party. In the last election though it led a coalition of opposition mainly right-wing parties essentially presenting itself as being “not Erdoğan”.
These protests though —the largest in the country since the 2013 ‘Gezi Park’ movement—are wider than simply to support Imamoğlu. They were kicked off by students at Istanbul University after the University annulled Imamoğlu’s degree. Presidential candidates are required to have a degree.
Generalised revolt
The students fear that Erdoğan, who is theoretically limited to two terms in office, could use the current global turmoil to extend his rule, either by triggering early elections or by amending the Constitution.
The initial resistance by the students has met with massive support across the country. What is being expressed on the streets of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and other cities is the fear that Erdoğan’s moves are a coup, intended to introduce a ‘democratic’ model based on the Russian system. Formally elections take place, but no genuine opposition parties are tolerated.
As the protests on the streets quickly turned into economic turmoil, Erdoğan accused the opposition CHP of economic sabotage. His government in a panic move called thousands of foreign investors to assure them that stability would be restored.
Some promise, considering that this week the lira and the stock market both slumped, while Turkey suffers from 40% inflation, one of the highest rates in the world.
Undoubtedly fearing that the protests could develop out of control, the CHP has, at the time of writing, called off further protests. The batton has passed to the students, who say they will continue.
Corruption kills in North Macedonia
The city of Kocani in North Macedonia was last week left in shock after 59 young people attending a concert of the popular rap group “DNK” (DNA in English) died in a fire.
Mourning quickly turned into a mass protest of anger, as the premises had only one emergency exit, which was locked and a ceiling made of highly flammable material.
Fearing the anger of mourners, local leaders quickly retreated, The Mayor resigned. This angered people even more. “When it comes to taking money they are the first to show up, but when it comes to accountability, when someone should stand up in front of these people, they are nowhere to be found”.
There is, said one parent, “just one guilty party – corruption”.
Greece – largest mobilisation since the military junta
Corruption and government incompetence fuelled massive protests in Greece at the end of February. A general strike and mass demonstrations in over two hundred cities on 28 February proved to be the biggest mobilisation since the revolutionary days that brought down the military junta in 1974.
The anger marked the second anniversary of the Tempi train crash. This left 57 dead and many more seriously wounded. Since then protests, demonstrations and strikes have continued to demand a thorough investigation and justice for the victims, many of whom were young.
The government’s attempts at cover-ups led to almost unprecedented protests on 28 February. Significantly the Association of Accident Victims who organised the protests clearly blame the accident on government policies. “The accident was preceded by written warnings, mobilisations and legal action by rail workers regarding understaffing, inadequate maintenance and lack of electronic safety systems on the railways” they say.
The demonstrations were very youthful. Many of the victims were young working class students. But they had very widespread support particularly from the trade union locals. A general strike was declared on the day, and Metro workers transported protesters free of charge.
Significantly, these incredible protests have been organised not by the trade union federation, or numerous left parties and groups in Greece, but by the relatives of the victims.
Even the relatively powerful KKE (Greek Communist Party) only acted under the pressure of the trade union ranks it supposedly leads.
Syriza, which lost a huge amount of authority after its capitulation to the European Union was further discredited as it was responsible for the privatisation of the railways – a key factor in this horrific disaster.
Hungary’s Viktor Orban losing control
To the north of the region in Hungary on 15 March tens of thousands demonstrated in Budapest against Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
For 18 years the right-wing authoritarian Viktor Orban and his Fidezs party have dominated Hungarian politics. Part of the global Conservative trend, he has befriended Vladimir Putin, and is now entertaining the Trump camp.
Now the opposition Tisza party is overtaking Fidesz in the opinion polls. According to the latest poll, if an election was to be held today, Fidesz would get 36% and Tisza 47%.
Discontent has been growing at the way the rich elites behave, the continuous crackdown on opposition, and the cost of living crisis. Inflation in Hungary has been two to three times higher than the EU average. Consequently, Orban has been forced to instruct food retailers to limit price increases to 10%, at least for the next months.
Emboldened by Trump’s support, Orban has stepped up his authoritarian rhetoric. At his own party’s rally on 15 March, he promised to clamp down on NGOs, and the foreign financed media saying that “we will eliminate the whole shadow army”.
Echoing Russia’s Duma, Fidesz is proposing a law to ban public LGBTQ+ activities, including the coming Pride march, claiming the aim is to “protect children”.
The popularity of Fidesz has also been badly damaged by a scandal in which the President, Justice Minister and senior clergyman participated in pardoning the director of a children’s home involved in serious child sexual abuse.
Opposition – more of the same
The European Union elite will clearly be looking on Tisza, led by Péter Magyar as their possible favored alternative to Orban. Magyar, a member of the European Parliament opposes Orban’s anti EU policies, and wants Hungary to move closer to the EU.
There is, though, no reason to believe Magyar will be better for Hungary’s working class and youth. A long time member of Fidesz, Magyar is now leaning on right-wing, nationalist and populist ideas.
He calls for curbs on corruption, the salary of MPs to be halved and criticizes Fidesz for its cover-up of paedophilia. There is a large degree of irony in the latter, as Magyar was not so long ago married to the former Justice Minister, who had to resign over the issue.
He calls for a reduction in VAT on key foods, more money for health and education and for Hungary to stay in the EU and NATO.
At the same time he makes open appeals to Hungarians in neighboring countries including Ukraine, Transylvania, Serbia, Romania and elsewhere to come to the help of the “motherland that is in trouble”.
Romania cancels election to avoid defeat
Further east, another member of the European Union – Romania – is seeing attacks on democratic rights.
Corruption, scandals, and budget cuts have so undermined the popularity of the National Liberal and the Social democratic parties, the partners in the coalition government that their support for their candidates plummeted in the Presidential election at the end of November. The NLP won just 9%, the SDP 19%.
Not only did another liberal party, the Save Romania Union gain more votes, the establishment were shocked when Călin Georgescu, a far right agronomist won 23% of the vote.
Rather than examine the reasons why the electorate had failed to support their parties, the Constitutional Court, cheered on by the European Union, simply cancelled the second round due in December.
Georgescu is a far-right conspiracy theorist, fanatic supporter of the orthodox church and speaks favourably of the WW2 Romanian fascists.
Yet he managed to mobilise support by contrasting the poverty levels sweeping Romania with the costs of militarisation, and particularly the war in Ukraine. In doing so he managed to present himself as the anti-war candidate! This allowed him to tap into the deep dissatisfaction in the country.
After the decision to reconvene the election in May, while barring Georgescu from standing, hundreds of right-wingers rioted in Bucharest. Riot police deployed tear gas as they were attacked with stones, firecrackers and bottles.
In Montenegro the young step up
Montenegro is a small country on the Adriatic coast, with a population of less than one million.
This makes it all the more remarkable that several thousand Montenegrans were mobilised to protest at the lack of government action after the mass killing of 13 people in Cetinje in January.
The anger reflects the sharp contrast between the lives of ordinary workers and youth, and that of the mafia-controlled coastline – a playground of the super-rich full of casinos, superyachts and luxury hotels.
Bank-workers, taxi drivers, waiters are all extremely dissatisfied, and this feeds a militancy of any who dare to oppose the ruling elite. Trade union leaders have had to stand up to offers of bribery and threats of imprisonment.
At the end of January it was the student organisation ‘Kamo Śutra” (where to tomorrow?) that organised the protests. Promising to carry on until change had been made, they warned “because whether they like it or not, the young can save the world”.
Bosnia again faces threat of ethnic conflict
Tensions in Bosnia-Herzogovina sharpened on 14 March as Republika Srpska adopted a new Constitution allowing for the setting up its own army and judiciary. Republika Srpska is the Serbian controlled entity in Bosnia set up as part of the Dayton Peace Accord of 1995.
This followed the decision by the Bosnian courts to issue an arrest warrant for RS’s President Milorod Dodik and other senior figures from RS. .
In what is described as the most serious government crisis since the end of the war in 1995, it sees Dodik, backed by Serbian president Vucic and Hungarian Orban, as well as the Kremlin facing off against the Sarajevo government backed by the EU and US.
Undermining how BiH is subject to outright imperialist rule, the highest authority according to the Dayton Accords is Christian Schmidt, the “High Representative” who has power to oversee elections and change the constitution.
In mid-March, the EU took the decision to strengthen EUFOR, the armed forces tasked with maintaining control of BiH.
Bulgaria stirring
Bulgaria is not a country known for radical protests but the last month shows it too is joining the wave of radicalisation sweeping the region. Dozens of local residents of Dimitrovgrad, including the city mayor, demonstrated to protest the high levels of air pollution caused by the local thermal power station.
Coordinated with similar boycotts in Croatia and Greece, on 20 February shoppers boycotted a series of retail chains in protest at rising prices. The shops saw a near 30% drop in turnover on that day.
In mid-March, Sofia, Varna and a number of other cities were hit by demonstrations protesting cruelty to animals, after two filmmakers produced horrific footage of the abuse of animals for profit.
Meanwhile several thousand demonstrators last week marched on the Palace of Justice in Sofia to demand a recount of votes from last October’s elections. Much of the anger was thrown at the corruption and “shadowy oligarchic influences” in the person of media tycoon Delyan Peevski.He promotes himself as opposed to the pro-Russian premier Rumen Radov, and calls for support for Ukraine.
And at the time of writing workers from the state psychiatric hospitals are gathering for a protest outside the Ministry of Health to complain at low pay. They are demanding a 50% pay increase.
In Serbia Vucic’s days are numbered
In neighboring Serbia though time appears to be running out for President Vucic.
A more detailed report of what is happening in Serbia can be read here.
14/15 March saw huge mobilisations in Belgrade, as well as other cities exceeding anything seen since the collapse of the Milosovic regime in the “Bulldozer” color revolution of 2000. One estimate suggests that every tenth Serb participated.
The protest entitled “15th for the 15” was called to demand government accountability for the widespread corruption and incompetence that led to the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station in November, which left 15 dead.
Organised by student organisations, it has attracted overwhelming support and coincided with a general strike by teachers and other workers.
Attempts by the regime to organise a counter protest by surrounding the government building with tractors and “students who want to study” paled into insignificance as the crowds poured into the city. Many other farmers drove their tractors to support the students, as did crowds of bikers.
Like all authoritarian leaders, Vucic attempted to blame “foreign influence” and “extremists”. This makes all the stranger the apparent use of a sound cannon – a weapon that emitted a screeching noise like a jet engine – which caused panic amongst the crowd and severe after effects. The weapon had been purchased just three years ago from the US.
A region becoming radicalised
A recent report by a coalition of human rights organisations has described what is happening in this part of the world as the deepening of a “democratic recession”. This is affecting both those countries within, as well as without the EU.
Hungary is the weakest link with attacks on judicial independence, civil organisations and media freedom. But the situation is worsening in Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia and Romania.
Another report, this time by “Transparency International” warns that many living in the Balkan countries believe that corruption is worsening. Bosnia-Herzogovina, Turkey, Serbia and North Macedonia were all picked out as seeing a significant worsening in the report.
What is clearly happening across the region is a social radicalisation, in which people are simply no longer prepared to tolerate corruption, injustice, and attacks on democratic rights. Often, it is the youth, in particular student youth that are initiating or organising the protests.
In those cases, such as Romania and Turkey, where the regime has made a direct attack on the main opposition party, protesters have initially been mobilised behind those parties, but protests have quickly taken on a broader character.
In Greece and Serbia, the masses are showing a high degree of skepticism towards all the parties. In Greece, the memory of the brutal austerity imposed by the European troika, and in Serbia that of the NATO bombing of Belgrade is undermining illusions in “European” or “western” orientated forces.
This is undermined by the fact that despite the resignation of the Serbian premier and several other ministers, the Serbian students are still not satisfied. They have no confidence that a simple “change of guard” will allow for a solution, rather they place in doubt the whole regime of formal democracy, even if so far they do not equate that with capitalism itself.
Independent workers’ alternative needed
It is unfortunate that the trade unions, even where they have a significant social weight such as in Greece and Turkey, are not playing the same role as they did during either the anti-Troika campaign in the former, or the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Istanbul.
At best they are being pushed into action from below, and are in general tail-ending the movement. Rather than put an independent position in Turkey, for example, they are merely calling on people to “unite for justice, democracy and our country”, without presenting an alternative choice to that of Imamoğlu’s CHP.
This creates a dangerous situation. As it is clear in some of these countries that the absence of an organised working class is allowing the anger and discontent to be channeled behind right wing populists such as Georgescu and Magyar, or behind authoritarian figures such as Dodik.
These figures represent a certain paradox as they are promoting rhetoric against social conditions and poor living standards, even presenting themselves as “anti-war”.
Right populists offer no solutions
In power though they reveal their true colours as representations of a certain layer of the capitalist ruling elite. The realities of capitalism do not allow them to meet the needs of the poorer layers of society.
At the same time, as Orban currently does, they do not hesitate to rebuild their own arms industry and military complex.
This region is a tinderbox of potential national and ethnic conflict that can explode if such figures gain more power. None of the current leaders, faced with growing discontent and unable to improve living standards, is able to resist the use of nationalism and xenophobia.
On the contrary, as elsewhere in the world an arms race is developing. In response to Serbian support for the moves by the leadership of Republika Srpska to set its own army up, Vucic is expressing anger at the establishment of a defence pact between Croatia, Albania and Kosovo. Kosovo which broke away from Serbia in 2008 is still seen by Belgrade as part of Serbia.
Need for a revolutionary left
The whole region is crying out for the building of revolutionary left forces, that can build workers’ organisations unifying all the oppressed in common struggle.
In this way there would be the possibility of ensuring the democratic decision making for the demands and strategy for the protests.
They would demand genuinely independent inquiries into the disasters such as those in Kocani, Tempi and Novy Sad consisting of elected representatives of the victims, workers, and local residents supported by any necessary technical expertise.
They could fight corruption using elected committees of oversight to examine the activities and accounts of all those in elected positions.
They could wage a struggle for genuine democracy, ensuring not only democratic votes in elections, but by actually ensuring that there are parties and candidates to vote for that actually represent and will fight for the rights of all workers, women, youth, LGBTQA+ and the oppressed.
Learning the lessons of the 1990s when national elites whipped up ethnic tensions, and waged wars to protect their own wealth and power, they would instead strive to unite the workers and poor of all national and ethnic groups in one powerful force to overthrow the rule of corrupt, undemocratic oligarch capitalism.
And, of course, such forces would lead the struggle to take over the wealth and resources of the region so they can be democratically planned and used in the interests of working people, and not to line the pockets of the rich elite.
This would open the way for establishing a genuinely democratic and equal federation of socialist states in the region and across Europe.