site.btaProtesting University Students to Start Civil Disobedience Across Serbia

Protesting students in Serbia, who have been blocking more than 60 university faculties for months, have announced that they will start civil disobedience across the country, local media reported. “We will start civil disobedience in every city. We will not interfere in the affairs of citizens, we will interfere in lies, injustice and corruption,” the protesters said on Sunday night.

The statement was read out to the gathered protesters on June 1 in more than 30 cities across Serbia. The students stressed that this was "not a student protest, but a protest of reason and dignity", and demanded early elections.

The students said that the civil disobedience would be directed at institutions, ministries and television stations "that silence them".

“For more than six months we have sought truth and justice, we have started the largest wave of student demonstrations in Europe in the last 50 years. We held the largest rallies in the history of Serbia, we have gone to every corner of our country, we have walked hundreds and driven thousands of kilometres. We have restored faith and hope both to ourselves and to others, hope for a better tomorrow and faith in a just society. We encouraged the academic community and education to raise their heads, we woke up people to fight for their convictions,” the students said.

The students further emphasized that lack of respect for the Constitution undermines the very foundations of a democratic society.

"We are expecting extraordinary parliamentary elections. This moment should be recognized as a decisive turning point for Serbia. The voice of young people is not just noise, but a wave that can initiate change, restore dignity and awaken hope for justice and freedom. Democracy should not remain just a promise," they added.

The students said that the roots of government corruption run very deep in the state apparatus and that is why their demands have not and cannot be met.

“The fact is that this system, together with this government, cannot and does not want to fulfill them. We have exhausted every legitimate form of seeking justice in the streets, we have turned exclusively to the institutions that are responsible for our demands by law. We have not received an adequate response, but we have gotten the most hateful insults, threats, harassment, lies, arrests, beatings, violations and tear gas,” the statement said.

Tensions in Serbia have grown since a railway station roof collapse in Novi Sad on November 1 claimed 15 lives. For months, protesters, mostly students, have blocked over 60 faculties, accusing the government and President Aleksandar Vucic of corruption. Two ministers resigned, as did Prime Minister Milos Vucevic. On April 7, President Vucic tasked a non-partisan figure, Djuro Macut, to form a new government. On April 15, Macut presented his proposed cabinet in parliament, calling for an end to the protests, echoing Vucic’s earlier appeals for calm.