Student runners reach Austria

The 4th day of their run took them from Varazdin in Croatia to Maribor in Slovenia and on to Graz. The run titled From My Village to Brussels has covered 474 kilometers so far.

The student runners chanted and sang before a choir led the crowd in song. They told reporters that they support their fellow students who were beaten by police in Novi Sad on Monday. Earlier in Maribor, one of the students told N1 that “they (the police) don’t have enough batons for all of us”.

One of the girls in the group of runners carried a teddy bear in a police uniform. She said the bear was a gift from one of the policemen escorting them through Slovenia. “This is Leon, he will keep us safe,” she said. The runners were given flowers and badges in Graz.

The mixed crowd of Serbians and Austrians set up candles to form the number 16, commemorating the number of people who lost their lives in the collapse of a concrete awning at Novi Sad Railway Station which was the cause for the months of protests.