Students from Belgrade and Novi Sad continued their march to Kragujevac on Thursday for the mass protest scheduled for February 15, Serbian Statehood Day.
Novi Pazar and Kraljevo students also set off to Kragujevac, joining their peers from Uzice, Cacak, and Gornji Milanovac, who they met in the village of Mrcajevci.
A group of students from Novi Sad and Belgrade set out by bicycle to Kragujevac for the protest.
Nis students also continued their journey to Kragujevac.
In all the places they passed through, students were greeted by a large number of locals. At rest stops, they were welcomed warmly with drinks and food.
In the Belgrade suburb of Zemun, students, parents and staff from 14 of the suburb’s 16 elementary schools took part in a protest march to support teachers. Reporters said there were over 2,000 people at the protest.
The informal community of Belgrade elementary schools, Puls, organized a protest in front of the Ministry of Education. They said that they would not engage in talks with the Ministry, announcing that 65 percent of schools were on strike.
“We appreciate the invitation for dialogue, but we refuse it. We have addressed the Ministry with six demands,” said the participants, adding that none of their demands had been met so far. They also reported receiving new threats and inappropriate rhetoric that undermines the work of educators, and during the protest, a request to the Serbian Government was read out, demanding the fulfillment of student demands and the de-escalation of social tensions.
Serbian state Radio TV (RTS) staff protested in front of Radio Belgrade and distanced themselves from news desk staff, claiming they were not accurately reporting Serbia’s reality. They were joined by students and staff from the Atelje 212 theater.
Farmers from Raca continued blocking traffic on all access roads to this municipality in the Sumadija District, central Serbia, following unsuccessful negotiations with municipal heads on Thursday.
Residents of the Belgrade suburbs of Borca, Kotez, Ovca, Krnjaca, and Padinska Skela gathered in the evening to walk along the left bank of the Danube in support of the students.
In the central Belgrade municipality of Vracar, residents also gathered in the evening to walk through their neighborhood in solidarity with the students and to draw attention to some local issues.
People throughout Serbia observed a 15-minute moment of silence at 11:52 am to honor the victims of the Novi Sad disaster. A concrete canopy at the recently renovated Novi Sad main train station collapsed at that time on November 1, killing 15 people and severely injuring two.
