Serbian high-schoolers to EP: “Break the silence, stand by Serbian youth who have risen in fight for European values”

The letter was presented to the European Parliament on behalf of Serbian high school students by Nikola Matic, a student from the First Belgrade Grammar School, who helped organize the students’ ultramarathon to Brussels. Among the runners was Maja, also a student from the First Belgrade Grammar School, whose schoolmates surprised her with a warm welcome in Brussels.

First Belgrade Grammar School students have vowed to maintain their school blockade until Maja and Nikola return to Serbia.

Below is the full text of the letter from Serbia’s high school students to the European Parliament:

“Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, members of the European Parliament,

We have come here, to Brussels, after running 1933 kilometres. This is not the first time we have run, marched or even ridden bicycles with the final goal of making our homeland, the Republic of Serbia, a better place. Unfortunately, we live in a country where corruption is an integral part of the system, where the media is accusing the country’s youth of being foreign mercenaries, terrorists and enemies and where the concrete canopy weighing 300 tons collapsed and killed 16 people. Since November 1st, our lives have changed drastically. A Tragedy that we could never have expected occurred. This is no longer a local protest, but rather a struggle for Human dignity, Freedom, Democracy, Equality, Rule of law and Human rights of a European nation which as you may recognize are all values of the European Union.

“The first protest broke out in Novi Sad, where the government showed a serious lack of responsibility. Subsequently the youth of Serbia rose up. The universities and soon after the high schools refused to continue functioning as they normally do and we exchanged the books and pens for slogans and whistles. We, the high school students, are led by plenary meetings, have no leaders and are proving that direct democracy indeed works. Hundreds of pupils of each school who are willing to shape the protests and therefore our future attend these meetings. We have together, in unison, decided that we will no longer stay silent about the problems that could endanger our lives.

“Even though we’re risking collective failure of the school year, since December we have not been attending classes. We have not been attending regular lectures, however we regularly attend the classes of patriotism, empathy, tolerance, integrity, honesty, courage and compassion that are held at our peaceful protests.

“The pressure that we and our professors are facing is enormous. Those professors who decided to stand on our side, the majority of them, either received a part of their paycheck, or none of it, as a form of repercussion from the Ministry.

“We ask all of you present here to break the silence and stand by the Serbian youth who have risen in the fight for our shared European values. Be our wind in the sails. We stand united in belief that our struggle is not just for Serbia, but for the future of a united, democratic Europe.

Thank you for your attention,

Serbian high school students.”