Serbian students start relay run to Brussels

The run is titled From My Village to Brussels (Od mog sela do Brisela in Serbian). The original plan was for 16 students to run in groups, the same as the number of victims of the Novi Sad Railway Station tragedy but was expanded to 21. They will run in turns with one group resting while the others run covering almost 2,000 kilometers.

The runners started their marathon at 7:10 am from in front of the Serbian state TV (RTS) headquarters and were seen off by a large crowd. They expect to be in Brussels on May 12 in time for the European Parliament session which will discuss the situation in Serbia and the demands brought to Strasbourg by a group of some 80 Serbian students and supporters who rode bicycles from Novi Sad to that French city which hosts both the European Parliament and Council of Europe (CoE).

The first stage of the relay run is to Novi Sad and then go on to Osijek in Croatia where they are expected to arrive on Friday evening. The plan is to run 100 kilometers a day through Croatia, Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Belgium. The runners will take a day’s break in Strasbourg to visit European institutions in that city.
Lena, one of the young women running the marathon, said that they are fighting for freedom and expect to return as victors and liberators.