NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of people greeted on Tuesday a group of Serbian university students who had cycled more than 1,300 kilometers (780 miles) this month to draw European Union attention to their struggle against corruption in the Balkan country.
Fireworks, drums and whistles echoed through the northern city of Novi Sad as some 80 students symbolically received medals and walked a red carpet in a joyous recognition of their effort in early April.
The 13-day cycling trip from Novi Sad to Strasbourg, France, aimed to garner support in the EU for monthslong student-led protests seeking justice for the 16 victims of a deadly train station canopy collapse in the city in November.
“We symbolically showed the determination and persistence of our generation to fight for a better tomorrow and a future that we deserve,” one of the students told the cheering crowd in Novi Sad.
The nationwide anti-graft movement led by the students has rattled increasingly authoritarian President Aleksandar Vucic. While they enjoy huge support at home and in the Balkan region, Serbia’s protesting students feel they haven’t received enough backing from the EU.
Serbia is formally seeking membership in the 27-nation bloc but has been backsliding in democratic freedoms and the rule of law. The EU’s reaction to the mostly peaceful student-led protests has been lukewarm and officials have refrained from publicly criticizing Vucic.
While in Strasbourg, a student delegation met with officials from the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. Along the way, the Serbian students passed through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany before reaching France.
Many in Serbia blamed the Novi Sad train station canopy collapse on rampant corruption. The protesting students have been demanding punishment for those responsible for the Nov. 1 tragedy and an end to government pressure and violence against protesters.
Source link
