We Must (Serbia)

During the early beginning of environmental protests in January 2021, Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, a member of the "Defend the Rivers of Stara Planina", started to gain popularity due to his involvement in the protests and his environmental activism.[1][2] In March 2021, he announced that he was planning to organize an "Ecological Uprising" protest in April,[3] in which 60 environmental organizations participated in the end.[4] The protests later continued in September,[5] with more involvement from the Together for Serbia (ZZS), and the Do not let Belgrade drown (NDB) movement.[6] Its influence grew through November and December, when the number of demonstrators became much larger.[7][8] Although the number of demonstrators in 2022 became smaller,[9] the protests are continued to be organized up to this day.[10]

The leader of ZZS, Nebojša Zelenović, announced the formation of "Action", a political group built around 28 environmental civic groups that support the "Green Agreement of Serbia", in June 2021.[11] Later during the environmental protests in November, the leader of NDB, Dobrica Veselinović, Zelenović and Ćuta have announced the formation of a joint list for the upcoming general elections and Belgrade City Assembly election.[12][13] The media dubbed the coalition as "Green-Left bloc" (Serbian Cyrillic: Зелено-леви блок, romanized: Zeleno-levi blok).[12][14] The formation was finalized on 19 January, when it was announced to the public that the coalition has been officially formed.[15][16] During the presentation, it was announced that Zelenović would head the parliamentary list, Veselinović would head the Belgrade City Assembly list, while Ćuta was agreed to be the first one on the parliamentary list.[17] They have also stated its support for the common opposition candidate for the presidential election. Zelenović stated that "the main organizations that are a part of the "We Must" coalition have applied for the membership in the European Greens, and that it all started with the Spanish Podemos".[17]

The coalition began its campaign in Gornje Nedeljice, and on 27 February, they have announced Biljana Stojković as their presidential candidate.[18][19] It campaigned in cities across Serbia, while its last rally was held in Kragujevac.[20][21] The Slovenian political party The Left has stated its support for the coalition in late March.[22]