Grassroots Activism Under Pressure: 10 Creative Practices from Hungary and Serbia

Contents

Introduction

Serbia and Hungary have both experienced rule by destructive populists. Despite the hold these exert over power and political institutions, savvy protest movements have found ways to push back. During the Progress 2026 conference Viktor Mák and Vesna Jusup from the European Center for Digital Action outlined the nature of destructive populism and discussed ten practices that have been used to rally civil society against it.

The Progress 2026 conference was hosted by Australian Progress on March 24-25 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Narrm/Melbourne. This article was produced by The Commons Library to enable ongoing learning.

Please note: This session was presented prior to the Hungarian election in April 2026 which ended Viktor Orbán’s 16 years of destructive populist leadership.

Liberal Democracy vs Destructive Populism

Societies dominated by destructive populism operate under a different logic and set of ideals than liberal democracies.

In liberal democracies:

The ideal of politics is to organise society and manage conflict through finding compromise.
Differing points of view and disagreements are considered legitimate and there is a culture of debate.
Complexity and difference are accepted and self-restraint creates stability. These shared norms form part of an infrastructure of coexistence that incorporates diverse groups and interests.
Corruption and scandals are considered crimes.
Politics forms part of long term processes of governance where a future is built together and concessions lead to a functional system.
Rules create self-restraint and checks and balances on power are achieved through having different institutions play different roles.
Protecting the weak provides the system with legitimacy. Providing dignity is a principle, and fair dealing and decency are ideals.
Opponents are viewed as legitimate rivals who may come to govern in the future.
Solidarity and cohesion is achieved through these values and processes.

In political systems where destructive populism predominates:

Politics serves as an arena of struggle in which the opponent must be defeated at any cost.
Success is measured through victory rather than compromise, and power and ranking are achieved via destructive conflict.
Disagreement with those in power is illegitimate and opponents are not just wrong, but do not belong in society.
Complexity is rejected in favour of a ‘us versus them’ outlook.
Rules are broken to gain advantage.
Corruption and scandals are proof of power. Discourtesy and hostility are signs of competency rather than flaws.
Politics is viewed as a “single-round”, short-term game rather than a long term process.
Concession is considered defeat and there are only winners and losers.
Strength decides outcomes and dominance must be ranked and visible.
Loyalty is considered competence.
Crushing the weak is not considered shameful but a source of pride.
Empathy is considered naivety.
Opponents are viewed as morally invalid parasites, traitors and outsiders who must be excluded from the community.

How campaigners have responded to the political situation in Hungary

Hungary has a long history of authoritarian rule. Following the collapse of communism, democracy was introduced in 1990. In 2010 Viktor Orban came to power and used his party’s super-majority to lock in power via regularly changing the constitution. As with authoritarians elsewhere he and his supporters consolidated power beyond the parliamentary sphere to include dominance over the media, business, courts and education.

A person in a yellow jacket and yellow beanie knocks on a door. Over the photograph there is a yellow thumbs up icon.

Door knocking for Szikra, 2022

Lesson 1: Door knocking and street presence

In 2022 Hungarian journalist András Jámbor successfully ran for election, representing the green-left Szikra (‘Spark’) movement. Elections in Hungary are not fully fair and free but they do provide an opportunity for campaigning. Looking for a way to circumvent government domination of traditional and social media his campaign embraced canvassing, door knocking everyone in Jámbor’s electoral district twice. Due to data protection laws in Europe this broadscale approach differed from the data-driven campaigning that Americans and other countries have access to .

Dressed in bright yellow jackets Jámbor and his canvassers also had a street presence. By the end of the campaign 500 volunteers had canvassed 60 000 voters. Although other countries have long used door knocking as an organizing tool, it was a fresh tactic in the Hungarian context and helped get Jámbor elected.

Door-knocking is a way to circumvent the social media algorithm. It’s a way to circumvent the media that might not give you coverage or favorable coverage. And it’s a way to turn your ideals into enthusiasm and talk to people. – Viktor Mak

Lesson 2: Distributed Campaigning

Since 2022 Hungarian teachers have been campaigning against low pay, high workloads, workforce shortages, and the centralization of the education system. Initially the movement was small and centred on Budapest. In order to scale up their activities they set up an action fund and called for donations so that small grants could be passed on to people to cover the material costs of making a banner or renting a megaphone.

As long as you were a teacher and had some kind of idea of what you would like to do, you could submit a form and the Action Fund team would reach out to you, have a short interview, and then issue you the funds. And this is a really, really nice funnel where a small team in Budapest could identify people across the country who were motivated to join the movement and then eventually build a ladder of engagement and source leadership from those folks. – Viktor Mak

Alongside this, an even lower bar action involved people filling in an online form to receive stickers to put up in their local area. They too could then be approached about joining in higher bar actions. The use of stickers and funding helped spread the movement across Hungary.

Lesson 3: Fundraising

Another tactic which was familiar in other contexts but had yet to be used much in Hungary was that of crowdfunding for political, workplace and community campaigns. As part of the teachers’ movement people were invited to support strike action by funding the equivalent of a day’s work. Others donated money for stickers and Jámbor’s electoral campaign also made use of small donations. In both cases this gave people operating in an oppressive atmosphere the opportunity to easily contribute to broader campaigns.

Lesson 4: Earned media via creative actions

Campaigners in Hungary have also used creative actions to gain coverage in traditional media and via influencers. Again, while familiar in other countries, this was novel in the Hungarian context. In one protest they staged a football match outside of Parliament with a banner reading “Schools not stadiums.” Given that Viktor Orban is a football fan and has helped to project his power via the building of stadiums this provided a clear and fun method of messaging.

Even though oftentimes these campaigns can be quite gruelling and quite costly, it’s important to create moments where the campaign is actually fun. – Viktor Mak

Protest outside the Hungarian parliament, 2022. A small group of people hold banners in Hungarian.

Lessons from the political situation in Serbia

Serbia is a small country with a population of about 6 million. Other than a short period of democracy in the 2000s, the country has had a long tradition of dictatorship and authoritarianism, which has deeply shaped political structures and mindsets. The current ruling party has been in power since 2012. The president has the support of a full majority in Parliament and exercises dominance over the judiciary, public media, ministries and local authorities, with education as his next target.

On 1 November 2024 a recently renovated train station in Novi Sad collapsed and killed 16 people, half of them children. The government immediately moved to erase media reports of the three grand openings they had held for the station. The tragedy sparked a protest movement against government corruption, ineptitude and control. Rebuilding traditions from earlier pro-democracy movements this has grown to huge proportions with around half the country involved.

Lesson 5: Build an alternative media eco-system

Traditional media is tightly controlled by the government in Serbia. To get around this, and take advantage of algorithms, activists used a disciplined form of online organizing that included clearly naming and distinguishing social media accounts so that audiences could know that they were legitimate sources of information. These posted coordinated messages that uplifted one another. By coordinating names and sharing information they built trust. Accounts further distinguished themselves from fakes by only following a minimal number of other accounts. By using highly coordinated Tik Tok and Instagram accounts millions of people were reached at minimal cost.

Lesson 6: Strictly Apply the Law

Under the Serbian constitution the role of the president is a ceremonial one with limited representational duties. To undermine the dictatorial way in which the president had been ruling campaigners emphasized this fact. This was done through messaging but also by refusing to negotiate or discuss matters with him.

Any attempt by the President to talk to students and protestors was met with ‘You are not in charge of this issue, so why would we talk to you?’ – Vesna Jusup

By challenging the power of this central figure and only accepting engagement with ministries covering construction, compensation, etc those campaigning for justice sidelined the president, making him subject to ridicule. This unnerved him but also exposed cronyism and put ministers under pressure, further exposing the fact that they were incompetent and corrupt. In challenging the centralised nature of the regime and its legitimacy, campaigners emboldened the public to take action themselves.

Lesson 7: Leadership rotation

The massive protests that Serbia has experienced in recent years have largely been led by university students. Frontliners decided early on that spokespeople would be rotated every two weeks so that their role remained a functional one rather than being associated with specific personalities. Each faculty would also rotate its leadership fortnightly. This was done for two reasons. The first was for protection as it made it harder for the regime to identify, attack and remove frontliners and pressure their families. The second was to prove that the movement and its spokespeople were genuinely focused on demands, not cynically seeking to use them to lever themselves into power.

In a country which does not have democratic procedures, this was like a very fast crash course in leadership roles and skills. And it actually trained hundreds of people in a very clandestine, grassroots way. – Vesna Jusup

Lesson 8: Walk the walk

One key form that protests in Serbia have taken is protest walks from one part of the country to another. This draws on powerful symbolism as during WWI, 1915-1916 the Serbian army and numerous citizens were forced to retreat from Serbia to Albania. In a defining moment for the country 10 000s of soldiers and 160 000 civilians died or went missing during the long trek to the Adriatic sea.

Basically, the message was that the regime may have taken everything from us, they have destroyed our infrastructure and communities, but what they can’t take away is us being connected to each other. And since the government obstructed the public transport system, people said, ‘Okay, then we go by foot.’ – Vesna Jusup

In most cases walks were held in relays with groups switching over every 10 to 20 kms, but some lasted up to 10 days. Authoritarian regimes work by isolating people and eroding the bonds of solidarity. The walks pushed back against this as they enabled people to meet up with those from other parts of the country, overcoming regional and religious divisions. Walkers were welcomed into communities along the way as well as during their entrance to cities. With organizers always going ahead of the walk, protesters were provided with food, shelter, bedding and other means of support. This offered opportunities for both walkers and supporters to engage in protest activities with varying levels of effort and commitment. A snowball effect took off and different sections of the community took on roles. For instance, taxi drivers, previously known for conservatism, ferried people for free after the marches.

Mass protest, Serbia, March 2025

Lesson 9: The Big Rallies

The largest protests involved more than 300 000 people, with an estimated 2.5-3.5 million taking part overall. A strict safeguarding policy was adopted and much training carried out. This meant that discipline regarding violence and other misbehaviour, as well as the ability to respond to accidents and threats, was maintained by groups of volunteer marshalls responsible for 100 to 150 people each. People were coordinated to turn on their phones, lighting up cities en masse.

The rallies were not without risks. During a mass rally on 15 March 2025 the police deployed a sound cannon during 15 minutes of silence held for those who had died when the station collapsed. The trust built via social media and previous protests was bolstered by the fact that organisers were successfully able to evacuate that section of the protest.

Community kitchen, Serbia. A row of people stand behind trestle tables covered in food: bananas, apples, bread. Under the table are several bottles of water. There is a hand written sign in Serbian.

Community kitchen, Serbia where teachers from a primary school gathered to provide refreshments for their ex-students during a march.

Lesson 10: Community Kitchens

One of the many entry points into the movement was involvement in community kitchens held during walks and other events. Much of the food was provided by grandmothers, a section of the population which had previously often stood with the government. The coordination teams understood that food is a powerful connector and provided collection places where anyone could join in a meal. They also ensured that these places were cleaned up afterwards and leftovers distributed to those in need. Gatherings based around food provided an additional place where people could discuss issues and another point where cultural and religious divisions could be overcome.

What we have seen in Serbia since 2024, and basically what this protest and what this movement is about, is finding different ways to channel the emotions of the people. I think that all of these tactics can be copied, but what matters at the end of the day is to work out what sort of environment and what sort of action will allow your people to express love, care, solidarity, and sharing. – Vesna Jusup

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