Austrian-based political activist Günther Fehlinger, known for his advocacy of Kosovo’s independence and support for NATO, has publicly backed the student electoral list in Serbia, urging voters to support the students and promising to promote their campaign across digital platforms.
In a video message reported by Serbian newspaper Blic on October 18, Fehlinger said Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had singled him out at a rally in Novi Sad, describing him as a leading Albanian and NATO lobbyist and an enemy of Serbia.
Fehlinger said he supported young people in Serbia and Albania who were protesting against what he described as oligarchy, authoritarianism and an unjust political system under Vučić and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. He also criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.
“I want the students in Serbia and Albania to win,” Fehlinger said, adding that he would do everything he could on X, Instagram and other digital platforms to support their efforts.
His message included sharp remarks about Serbia’s political future and its relationship with Europe. Fehlinger said voters who wanted Serbia to become part of the European political community should support the student list, while using the phrase “send Vučić to Siberia” to call for the Serbian president to leave power.
Fehlinger also made controversial comments about the legacy of the Bosnian War, saying that people who considered convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić a good person should vote for Vučić. He added that Serbia should be isolated if it continued to embrace such views.
The remarks have attracted attention because of Fehlinger’s previous statements on Serbian historical memory and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional structure.
According to Blic, Fehlinger previously called for the removal of a Belgrade monument dedicated to Milica Rakić, a three-year-old girl killed during NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign, proposing that a memorial to former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright be built in its place.
In early September, he also proposed constitutional changes to Bosnia and Herzegovina that would abolish its ethnic entities and replace them with a “modern European federation” comprising 10 federal states. The proposal would entail the abolition of Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Fehlinger’s intervention adds an international voice to Serbia’s ongoing political debate over student-led electoral initiatives, the country’s European orientation and the future of its current leadership.
