Ecological Uprising ( sr-cyr, Еколошки устанак, Ekološki ustanak, EU) was a

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

and

protest movement A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

that gained presence during the

2021–2022 Serbian environmental protests In September 2021, a series of environmental protests began in Belgrade and other locations in Serbia. The protests, which were attended by tens of thousands of people, lasted until February 2022. In 2004, Anglo-Australian corporation Rio Tin ...

. It was led by

Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta Aleksandar Jovanović ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Јовановић; born 30 September 1966), commonly known by his nickname Ćuta, is a Serbian environmental activist and politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Serb ...

, who was elected to the

National Assembly of Serbia The National Assembly ( sr-cyr, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ) is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are proportionally elected to four-year terms by secret ballot. The a ...

at the head of We Must (''Moramo'') coalition in the

2022 Serbian parliamentary election General elections were held in Serbia on 3 April 2022 to elect both the president and members of the National Assembly. Initially, parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held in 2024; however, in October 2020 president Aleksandar Vučić s ...

. On 11 June 2022, the movement was merged into a new political party called

Together ''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi P ...

(''Zajedno!'').

History

Formation

According to

's website, the Ecological Uprising was formed in 2019. The Ecological Uprising movement grew out of a series of environmental actions in Serbia in 2021. Jovanović, working with a movement called "Defend the Rivers of

Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border b ...

," used the phrase "ecological uprising" in his call for a citizens' protest at the national assembly on 10 April 2021. The protest, which drew thousands of people, called for a moratorium on the construction of small hydroelectric plants and for more intensive reforestation across Serbia. Another protest was held in September of the same year, with more than thirty environmental organizations rallied around the "Ecological Uprising" banner. The latter event was the catalyst for an ongoing series of protests of

environmental protests The Environmental Justice Atlas documented 3,100 environmental conflicts worldwide as of April 2020 and emphasised that many more conflicts remained undocumented. Climate * Global Climate March * Global Day of Action * March Against Monsa ...

over the following months, with Jovanović and Ecological Uprising playing a leading role. The protests came to focus in particular on opposition to

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

's proposed jadarite mining near the Jadar River. Jovanović indicated in mid-2021 that he wanted the Ecological Uprising movement to participate in the

2022 Belgrade City Assembly election Local elections were held in Belgrade on 3 April 2022 to elect members of the City Assembly. Alongside the election, national-level general elections and local elections in 12 other towns and municipalities were held on the same day. The elec ...

. Speculation grew as to his possible coalition partners, with both the

Do not let Belgrade drown Do not let Belgrade drown ( sr-Cyrl, Не давимо Београд, Ne davimo Beograd, NDB) is a green political organisation in Serbia. A grassroots movement formed in 2014, aimed at criticising and reforming the current political system ...

(NDB) group and

Nebojša Zelenović Nebojša Zelenović ( sr-cyr, Небојша Зеленовић; born 15 July 1975) is a Serbian politician who served as mayor of Šabac from 2014 to 2020. A former member of the Democratic Party, he presided over the Together for Serbia party ...

's Action movement mentioned as possibilities. In November 2021, Jovanović said that Ecological Uprising would participate in both the Belgrade election and the

; in so doing, he said that the movement's ultimate goal was to "remove the cause of the biggest pollution in Serbia, which is the regime of

Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017, and as the president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012. Vučić serv ...

2022 election

Jovanović and Zelenović signed an electional agreement to create a green-left political bloc in November 2021. The We Must coalition was formally launched in January 2022, with NDB and other parties also participating. The We Must coalition ultimately won representation in both the republican and Belgrade assemblies, taking thirteen seats in each body. Jovanović, who led the coalition's

electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

at the republic level, was elected as a parliamentarian. On 1 June 2022, representatives of Ecological Uprising, the Action movement, and the Assembly of Free Serbia announced that they would henceforth act as one party. The new party, known as

(''Zajedno!''), was formally introduced on 11 June, with Jovanović, Zelenović, and Assembly of Free Serbia leader Biljana Stojković as its co-presidents.

Electoral results

Parliamentary elections

Presidential elections

Belgrade City Assembly elections

References

{{Serbian political parties 2019 establishments in Serbia 2022 disestablishments in Serbia Environmental organizations based in Europe Green political parties in Serbia