After nearly two years of protests, a grassroots youth movement with no conventional leader or governing experience has defeated Aleksandar Vučić’s enormous political machine, ending 14 years of his party’s dominance. Whether the Student List can actually govern remains to be seen, but its stunning parliamentary victory sends a powerful message to disgruntled youth movements worldwide. From France and Albania to India and Indonesia, young people are taking to the streets against governments and institutions they believe have failed them.
Their chances of success vary wildly—and recent history suggests that even getting what you want isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. Here’s how five major student movements stack up, from those facing the biggest obstacles to those with the greatest political leverage. Albania’s young people are furious with Prime Minister Edi Rama, and are eager to show it.
The unrest grew from months of protests initially directed against a controversial luxury resort development backed by Atlantic Incubation Partners, a company linked to the investment firm founded by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. That unrest has escalated into mass demonstrations and violent confrontations with police over alleged government corruption, high unemployment, and poor education. Now students want a complete political reset, including Rama’s resignation and his replacement with a transitional government of technocrats and experts to implement sweeping reforms.
They face a steep uphill battle. Rama has flatly rejected the students’ demands, and unlike in Serbia, there is no election waiting around the corner. His Socialist Party won 83 of parliament’s 140 seats in May 2025, securing a fourth consecutive term.
His government has proposed tougher penalties for protesters, while international observers and U.S. officials have called for restraint. Unlike their counterparts in Serbia or Indonesia, Albania’s student protesters have yet to build a comparably cohesive national organization capable of sustaining political pressure. There’s public anger aplenty, but little evidence yet that Rama’s grip on Parliament is weakening.
Students could still extract concessions on education, but forcing a government from office is another proposition entirely. Rama has the votes, years left in office and no intention of surrendering power. France’s teenagers have spent the past month turning their schools and streets into battlegrounds.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
