In the most radical move so far since the protests began in Serbia, students from Belgrade University began a 24-hour blockade of one of the busiest traffic junctions in Belgrade yesterday. It is a new form of pressure on the Serbian authorities and President Aleksandar Vučić to determine responsibility for the deaths of 15 people in the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad train station on November 1. The students were joined at Autokomanda by Serbian farmers on tractors and thousands of citizens, and the crowd carried Serbian flags and numerous slogans including: “We are designing a new society”, “Demands have not been met”, “Smile, smile, Laura Koveši”, “Serbia to Pyongyang”...
While the students were blocking Autokomanda, Vučić told a press conference that they wanted “dialogue and conversation,” announcing that all the students’ demands would be met within the next few days at the latest, from the publication of all documentation on the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station “which is owned by the state” to the pardoning of activists arrested during the protests. He also said that he was demanding an “urgent and massive” reconstruction of the Serbian government and that he expected more than 50 percent of the current ministers to be replaced. He told reporters at the Palace of Serbia that during difficult times it had become clear which members of the government were ready to fight and work, and which were not.
He stated that the current situation with the protests could drag on for another year, two or more, but that the state decided to do all this because it is important for young people to return to school, but also for the stability of the state, because the situation in the state has begun to affect the economy and foreign direct investment since the beginning of the year.
Among the protesters' demands is the publication of all documents and contracts related to the station renovation, as well as an increase in the budget for universities, an investigation and cessation of attacks on protesters, and complete transparency in the investigation into the accident in Novi Sad.
On social media, students are calling for a general strike and asking employees not to go to work on Friday, to talk to colleagues and organize a work stoppage, and if they are afraid of their employer, to take the day off. They are advising against going to cafes and restaurants, ordering food for delivery, and going to sports halls and gyms. “Let’s take our freedom into our own hands! Your participation makes a difference,” the call for strike and civil disobedience states.
In the action "Under our (Auto) Command", demonstrators set up tents, set up chairs, and organized the preparation and serving of food at stands at the traffic interchange at 10 am yesterday.
Some citizens provided security for the protesters by parking their cars around the blockade, BIRN reported. Police regulated traffic around the blockade, as well as on the roads protesters used to walk to the blockade, after dozens of protests had previously taken place without the presence of police.
Several incidents have marked street demonstrations in recent weeks, including two cases in which drivers drove cars into crowds, injuring two young women.
"We are here to show that all students are united, we want all our demands to be met, we want the institutions to function. I expect the demands to be met as soon as possible, because I believe that is everyone's goal," Stefan Radovanović, a student at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade, told BBC Serbian.
“We are not tired, we have just begun. We have a lot of time and we are still going to push through all this,” a student at the Faculty of Philology told N1. “When our demands are met, I hope we will return to our activities and obligations at the faculty as soon as possible. This had to happen. I ask all citizens not to take this personally. We are putting pressure on institutions for justice for all citizens, especially the families whose members were killed during the canopy collapse,” she added.
Among those who made sure that the students had enough food was the owner of a restaurant from Tivat, who told Beta that "the best pizzas in Belgrade are being eaten here today." As he said, he sent out an invitation via social media and received a response from about thirty professional chefs from Belgrade restaurants to help him prepare the food.
One of the group of several said that they would prepare food for at least 500 students - stew, soups, pizzas, cakes. He also said that they had brought pet food.
The student protests were supported by numerous university professors and educators, lawyers, as well as public figures and many cultural institutions and businesses.
Reporting on the protests and blockades in Serbia, foreign media say that this is the biggest challenge in recent years for the populist government. Reuters writes that Vučić faces accusations of restricting democratic freedoms, despite his formal commitment to Serbia's membership in the European Union. He has repeatedly accused students of working for foreign powers with the aim of overthrowing the government, but did not specify which foreign powers he was referring to.
The German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) writes that the key question is whether the energy of the mass protests will be channeled into a lasting politically relevant option. “The Balkan country has been swept by a wave of protests against Vučić’s system of power, and (this wave), despite its differences, is reminiscent of the popular uprising of October 2000 that overthrew the regime of Slobodan Milošević,” writes the FAZ.
To show that he too can mobilize the masses, Vučić organized a counter-rally on January 24, as an opportunity “to be celebrated as the father of the nation concerned about the well-being of the population,” the German newspaper recalls. Dnevnik, however, adds that the counter-rally was held in the “provincial” town of Jagodina, “among other things, because the government would probably have difficulty, at least in Belgrade and Novi Sad, mobilizing a large number of people.”
While the authorities spoke of 100.000 people gathered, other observers cited a figure of 15.000, the German daily writes.
"There are certainly people in Serbia who are satisfied with the country's economic development and who do not mind, or even support, the government's increasingly nationalist tone, especially among the older generation," FAZ estimates.
"It is unclear for now, however, whether the political energy that is clearly emanating from the protests will be able to be channeled into a permanent, party-politically relevant option. For now, students are consciously staying away from all opposition parties," FAZ estimates.
The daily reports the assessments of some protesters that there is no longer any room for party involvement in Serbia, as all state institutions are under the control of the SNS. They are “organizing with remarkable discipline” at democratic student gatherings at universities, but if the protests do not lead to the overthrow of the regime as in 2000, “the question remains how their dissatisfaction is to be consolidated and parliamentaryly effective,” the German newspaper writes.
SPC: Students live in parallel universes
Students in Serbia live in parallel universes and it is up to them to decide whether they want to live in the world that Patriarch Porfirije spoke about or in one in which all Saint Sava values and all Serbian identity features are mocked, the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) has assessed.
The Serbian Orthodox Church's statement states that "while some students proudly carry icons and state flags, kissing them while making the sign of the cross, others at three faculties - Organizational Sciences, Political Sciences and Law, silently and without protest watch as the same flag is desecrated and desecrated on stage, and those who make the sign of the cross are subjected to the most shameless insults."
It is up to students to decide "which universe they want to live in," the Serbian Orthodox Church said, adding: "As they decide, so it will be."
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