Thousands of Serbians blocked the main boulevard of the central city of Kragujevac on Saturday, the latest in a series of student-led protests over November last year’s deadly collapse of a train station roof.
The increasing pressure being applied by the university student-led movement has already forced the resignation of several high-ranking officials, including former prime minister Milos Vucevic at the end of last month.
Crowds gathered in the city center at the start of Serbia’s national statehood holiday calling for greater government accountability and reforms.
Photo: REUTERS
Protesters filled the streets well into the afternoon, waving flags marked with bloody handprints — the protests’ logo.
The Kragujevac blockade is the third day-long city demonstration, after Belgrade and Novi Sad a few weeks ago.
The collapse of the station roof in Novi Sad, which killed 15 people, followed extensive renovations to the building in the northern city.
The deaths fueled long-standing anger over corruption and demands for accountability.
At 10:52am, the time of the tragedy, protesters observed 15 minutes of silence to honor the victims.
The blockade was planned to last past midnight, which marks the anniversary of the first Serbian Constitution in 1835, one of the most progressive in Europe at the time.
Belgrade chemistry student Nikola Knezevic, 25, said it was important to hold protests beyond the capital. “To show not only Belgrade, but all these cities that support our demands, and that we support them. That is the message,” Knezevic said.
Dragana Mitic, 55, a professor from the same faculty, hailed the students for “fighting against corruption.”
Vladimir Petrovic, a 50-year-old from Kragujevac, said the students “awakened us from anesthesia,” as he served pies and sandwiches to the protesters.
“They have rekindled my hope,” he said.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at a rally in the northern town of Sremska Mitrovica told thousands of supporters the country was being attacked from the outside “helped by many inside who manipulate our children.” He urged the protesters to engage in dialogue and to listen to him.
“Declare victory, you have had all your demands met, return to your benches,” he said. The government has already tried to meet some of the students’ demands in a bid to quell the months-long protests. However, the students in Kragujevac are continuing to call for greater transparency.
“None of the demands have been met by the competent institutions,” a letter from students read out at the protest said.
Ahead of Saturday’s rally, hundreds of students from Novi Sad, Belgrade and the southern city of Nis staged a four-day march that converged on Friday night at Kragujevac’s center.
“We are sending a message that this is a meeting with the people, with history and with the future that we are now building,” said one of the marchers, Milica Pavlovic, a 20-year-old electrical engineering student.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose