Serbian students who say their fight for justice is being ignored in much of Europe arrived in the heart of the European Union today, after cycling more than 1.300 kilometers from their country, and were welcomed as heroes, the Associated Press agency reports.
The agency reports that about 80 students set off on bicycles 13 days ago on a journey to Strasbourg, where they aim to draw the EU's attention to their months-long protests against corruption in Serbia. The AP reminds that Serbia is officially seeking EU membership, but that it has begun to regress in democratic freedoms and the rule of law.
The students were emotionally welcomed by hundreds of people, including members of the Serbian diaspora and French students, when they arrived at the main square in Strasbourg, the city where the European Parliament is in session, the agency writes.
He quotes one of the students as saying that he thought this protest action was a "complete success" and that they had "awakened Europe."
Serbian students have been a key force in a nationwide anti-corruption protest movement that has included almost daily street demonstrations and has upset the country's President Aleksandar Vučić, AP reports.
Although they have great support in the country and across the Balkans, many students feel that they have not received enough support from the EU.
They cycled 100 to 150 kilometers a day through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany, before arriving in Strasbourg, where they were welcomed with a red carpet by Serbs living abroad, as well as fellow students from the EU.
They faced heavy rain and cold along the way, on their way across Europe, and were also welcomed as heroes along the way: in Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava and German cities, the agency reports.
The student-led protests were sparked by the death of 16 people in a collapsed canopy at the Novi Sad train station in November, blamed on widespread corruption. The protests have since come to reflect broader dissatisfaction with the state of democratic freedoms in Serbia, the AP added.
Protesting students are demanding justice for those killed in the canopy collapse and an end to government pressure and violence against protesters.
AP points out that Vučić and his pro-government media have accused students and their professors of working against the state, with the intention of overthrowing him from power together with unidentified Western security services. It is emphasized that Vučić has not provided evidence for his claims.
The EU's response to the largely peaceful student demonstrations has been tepid, and officials have refrained from criticizing Vučić, the AP writes, adding that they appear to see Vučić as a key factor in maintaining peace in the region, which went through a series of devastating wars in the 1990s.
The students, AP writes, plan to visit the Council of Europe and the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The agency adds that since coming to power more than a decade ago, Vučić has been accused of stifling democratic freedoms while maintaining close ties with Russia and China.
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