A group of Serbian students who reached Strasbourg by bicycle yesterday submitted a letter to the Council of Europe (CoE), describing everything that has been happening in Serbia since November 1, when a canopy collapsed in Novi Sad and killed 16 people.
"We came all the way from Serbia here to Strasbourg, we rode bicycles, it was both hot and cold, we laughed and we grieved, but we came to deliver a letter to you that contains everything that has happened in the last five months since November 1, 2024," said the student who delivered the letter to the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Bjorn Berge.
Berge said the students' act was a “strong demonstration of commitment to democratic values.” He added that the Council of Europe's main mission is “to defend and strengthen democracy,” with a focus on empowering young people.
The meeting was also attended by the Director for Democratic Participation of the Council of Europe, Matjaž Gruden.
The students met with MEPs Irena Joveva, Gordan Bosanac and Fabien Keller earlier yesterday at the European Parliament (EP) building, Beta news agency reported.
The meeting explained in detail what happened on March 15 at the protest in Belgrade, namely that a sound cannon was allegedly used - a weapon banned in Serbia. The MEPs promised to speak about the students' demands in the EP, and Joveva also promised to "knock on the door of Ursula von der Leyen" (the head of the European Commission).
The students drew attention to corruption and the lack of democracy. The MPs responded that they did not want to interfere in internal problems, but that they would help them in the fight for true values.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said yesterday that investigators from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) concluded that sound devices owned by Serbian police authorities were not used at the mass protest in Belgrade on March 15th.
The FSB report, which was published yesterday on the website of the Security Information Agency (BIA), also states that "there are public indications of a staged provocation" at the rally, "with the participation of a specially prepared group of people and the use of smartphones to synchronize movements, imitating the effect of an acoustic cannon."
Vučić said that the claims about the use of a sound cannon are “an organized and deliberate attack on the state in order to provoke instability and the violent overthrow of the constitutional order.” Addressing the public from the Serbian Presidency, Vučić said that he would “insist” on every type of responsibility, primarily criminal and legal, for those who, in his words, lied about the use of a sound cannon at the rally.
Yesterday in Strasbourg, students also read a letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron in which they address him "as young people who have decided, due to the lack of justice and dialogue in their country, to come by bicycle" to Strasbourg.
"Serbia needs EU support, we are not asking for sanctions, but for a glimmer of truth and responsibility. President, you have often emphasized the importance of European values, today you have the opportunity to show that these values are universal. That would mean a lot, not only to us, but to the entire generation that wants to stay in the country. We are not driving to Europe to escape Serbia, but to bring it back," the letter stated.
Vučić said that he was not bothered much by the students who went to Strasbourg by bicycle and that the trip turned out to be completely pointless, and that he was not afraid of being invited by someone from the European institutions.
"They were received there by some official, probably from Slovenia or Croatia. I know that the secretary was unable to receive them. And what will happen when they return? Someone will call me from Strasbourg and tell me what and how to do. Come on. I won't be able to sleep because I'm so worried," said the president.
He added that he is aware of how far the students are willing to go and that they have broken the country in these five months, Beta reported.
Students traveled from Novi Sad to Strasbourg over 13 days, covering approximately 1.400 kilometers, passing through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany, to draw attention to the situation in Serbia.
A new government was elected in the Serbian Parliament yesterday, at the proposal of Prime Minister-designate Đuro Macut, a professor of medicine with no political experience.
The vote was a formality because the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has a majority of 156 deputies in the 250-member parliament. Opposition parties have demanded the formation of a transitional government before elections scheduled for 2027, which Vučić and his allies have rejected.
The new government will have 31 ministers, 22 of whom were already in the previous cabinet of Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, who resigned in January amid protests.
Macut said his government wants an end to the protests and called on demonstrators to engage in dialogue.
"Serbia is tired of blockades," Macut said in his address to MPs.
"The appointment of a new prime minister who is associated with President Aleksandar Vučić's new political movement is unlikely to reduce tensions in society," according to an analysis published this week by consulting firm Teneo.
TI: Brussels to support students
The international organization Transparency International (TI) expressed support for the students and called on the European Union to take a stronger stance towards the Serbian government and to insist on genuine reforms, including ending restrictions on independent media, curbing undue political influence on the judiciary and legislative processes, ensuring transparency in the awarding of public contracts, and preventing the manipulation of electoral rules in favor of parties.
Assessing that the Serbian government, despite rhetorical support for European integration, has failed to implement significant reforms in the area of the rule of law, TI states that the demonstrators are calling on the EU to clearly state that Serbia's current repressive measures threaten its path to membership in the Union, Beta reported.
"The EU must insist that Serbia address the key concerns of its citizens, by ensuring free and fair elections in line with ODIHR recommendations, systematically fighting corruption and preserving media freedoms - as proof of its sincere commitment to the European project," TI said.
TI Executive Director Maira Martini stated that Serbian citizens are demanding real action against corruption and democratic reform, and that stopping the abuse of power and corruption requires strong, independent institutions and “a safe space for civil society to speak out without fear of reprisal.”
"It is time for the EU to listen and send a clear message: There can be no path to membership without genuine reforms in the rule of law and effective implementation of anti-corruption rules," Martini stressed.
TI's EU director Nick Ajosa said the EU was facing growing criticism for what many saw as a weak response to mass protests in Serbia. He added that the protest over the canopy collapse had grown into a broader call for democratic reforms seen as a major challenge to Aleksandar Vučić's "increasingly authoritarian rule".
The statement recalls that according to the TI Corruption Perceptions Index for 2024, Serbia ranked 105th out of 180 countries.
The Fulbright and Friends Association supported the demands of students who are demanding that Serbian institutions be held accountable for the deaths of 16 people, as well as the request for an investigation into the use of an unknown sonic weapon in Belgrade on March 15th.
This is stated in the Declaration of Support for Students, Educators, and the Academic Community, which was unanimously adopted at the Electoral Assembly of the Fulbright and Friends Association on April 15th.
The association, which, in addition to beneficiaries of Fulbright scholarships, also brings together all beneficiaries of educational scholarships funded by the US government, condemns the campaign of disqualification, defamation and intimidation of university and faculty management, professors and students, Beta reported.
It particularly condemns the systematic media campaign against the rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, the physical attack on the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš, Natalija Jovanović, as well as the inappropriate actions of the police and prosecutor's office based on the criminal complaint against the dean of the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade, Žaklina Stojanović, the Declaration states.
It is also emphasized that the Government of Serbia, by illegally adopting the Decree on Amendments to the Decree on Norms and Standards of Working Conditions of Universities and Faculties, essentially suspended the funding of scientific and research activities at universities in Serbia.
This abolishes the function of universities with negative consequences for the quality of education at universities in Serbia. For this reason, the Association demands that the Government of Serbia immediately repeal the amendments to the Regulation, which have harmful consequences for scientific activity, and therefore for the general development of Serbia.
The Association also supports the struggle of educators to improve their status, as well as the status and quality of education. Instead of intimidation and increasing repression, we call on the government to acknowledge the dissatisfaction of a large part of citizens with the current way of governing and to take the necessary measures to resolve the deep political crisis in a conflict-free manner, as soon as possible, the Declaration concludes.
Bonus video:
