Dr. Konstanca Icel: Shocked by the violence in Serbia, students are taking responsibility for the future

Dr. Konstanca Itzel, director of the European House of History, said she was shocked by the footage of violence against civilians to the demonstrators during the blockades in Serbia.

Serbian and students showed scenes of protesters being trampled on roadblocks in Brussels. That violence shocked the audience at the tribune in the House of European History.

"What we see and what we were able to hear from students today is that it is about basic human rights. It is about the right to life, the right to freely express one's opinion, the right to hear what they say, it is about freedom of the media. We just saw how human lives were put in danger. It is unacceptable. I am still shocked by what we just saw." Icel said in an interview with DW.

She pointed out that she greatly admires the courage shown by the students.

"They literally take responsibility for their future. And they do that when they go to university, but also when they say how they imagine the Europe of the future, that is, the future of their country. I am very impressed by that. I am at a loss for words to describe how brave they are. Those students, in addition, also give us hope. They show that rights should and must be fought for," said Icel.

She added that she was impressed by what she heard from the students.

"I was very moved by these young people, young people who ran all the way to Brussels to fight for democracy, transparency, for their rights and for freedom of expression," Ycel said.

She pointed out that young people from Serbia said that they are fighting for their future.

"It is in our museum here in Brussels that we thematize numerous movements of young people in the last two centuries. It is about movements that changed the course of European history," Itcel concluded.