Under the slogan "We want elections", a protest of blockaded students and citizens was held in Belgrade, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić from Zaječar said that there will be no extraordinary parliamentary elections until preparations for the Expo are completed.
Students in the blockade and the citizens protested in Belgrade, under the slogan "We want elections", repeating the demand for the calling of extraordinary parliamentary elections.
Those gathered held a walk through the central city streets, and in front of the Serbian Government building, speeches were held, and at the end of the protest, they called for pick-ups on June 1 throughout Serbia and thanked the citizens for their support.
At the same time, President Aleksandar Vučić visited Zaječar, where local elections are being held on June 8, from where he announced that he will "hold early elections" when the preparations for Expo 2027 are completed and when Serbia prepares for that international exhibition.
How is it stated, "people are already nervous. For the first time in history out of the total number of the population, 23 percent of them, when asked what are the biggest problems in the country, say that they are protests and riots. It means that they are so disgusted with the people that it is unbelievable. I am not proud of that."
Photo: Vreme / DSThe protest in Belgrade is held under the slogan "We want elections"
On the streets of Belgrade, the atmosphere is cheerful, and the only thing that causes nervousness among the demonstrators is that the government does not respond to the students' request to call for elections.
That's why a protest was held in Belgrade on Friday (May 30), and gatherings were announced in places all over Serbia on June 1.
Photo: Vreme / AIGathered in front of the General Staff building
The protest began with a speech by a female student, after which a sixteen-minute silence was held in memory of those who died in the fall of the canopy of the railway station in Novi Sad.
The gathered then went along the planned route, and the first stop was the building of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office.
After that, the column headed towards Slavija Square, and further to the final destination - the building of the Government of Sri Lanka, where a text calling for extraordinary parliamentary elections was read.
"The government that does not meet our demands must be replaced"
"The government that does not want to fulfill demands, that has captured institutions, that survives on divisions and that has been destroying our society for more than a decade must be replaced," said a student of the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy at a student protest in Belgrade.
He stated that students will give their trust to individuals who are proven fighters for justice and truth, assessing that citizens must have honorable and honest people in the Assembly who will honestly represent their interests, not personal or party interests, with a single goal - to achieve a fairer system.
"We are not looking for revenge. We are looking for justice. We want a change that will be peaceful, but essential. We believe that Serbia can be a country where life, dignity, freedom, equality and basic human rights are respected. A country where corruption is not tolerated and violence does not go unpunished. Guided by those values, we propose to the citizens of Serbia a social agreement on key demands for the future judicial, executive and legislative authorities," said the student.
According to him, after the elections, the students expect that their demands will not be ignored, and that the media, which were assigned national frequencies, will be re-examined, in which the students were called "terrorists, foreign mercenaries and mobs".
When it comes to elections, he stated that they have been stolen in Serbia for years and that the voter list and election conditions are getting worse, but that despite this the students believe they will win.
Speaking about the prosecutor's office, he pointed out that the state of the judiciary and the prosecutor's office is the cause of the non-fulfillment of student demands, which is why instead of "party henchmen" judges must come who will really judge in the name of the people.
"Organized crime and the levers of the executive power must not have an influence on the judiciary, prosecution and criminal police. We must introduce a special prosecution for public officials and a binding statement holding judicial officials accountable," said the student.
He pointed out that every project, such as mining in Bor and Majdanpek, or Jadar, which threatens to turn Serbia into a "mining colony", must be stopped.
See what part of the protest walk through the streets of Belgrade looks like from the perspective of a "Vremen" reporter:
During the walk, those gathered shouted "We want elections", "Pump, pump", they made noise.
They also distributed pamphlets in which they state what they demand and what they are fighting for, and also state how they will choose candidates for the so-called student list.
In front of the building of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office, the students sang the song "Izađi mala", calling on the prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac.
"We came from Canada two weeks ago, we have been following what is happening. We are very excited, we were all touched and what these young people are doing is something unprecedented. We elders did not expect this to exist in them. I am speechless, on the verge of tears," said one citizen, reports N1.
Photo: Vreme / HIThe gathered people walked through the central streets of Belgrade
Student's speech at the beginning of the protest
The protest started at 17 p.m., and a female student addressed the crowd.
"It wasn't just the canopy that fell that day, it pulled down the system of this country, which collapsed under the weight of corruption on the very citizens it was supposed to serve. The officials looked us in the eye and said that everything was done according to the regulations, that the canopy was not renovated, but everything except it. It's as if we didn't look at the photos and saw with our own eyes how after two ceremonial openings of the reconstructed station - that roof is standing only because of the grace of gravity," the student addressed the crowd at the protest in Belgrade.
She asked "how many lives must be threatened or lost in order for corruption to end."
"After the tragedy in Novi Sad where human life paid the price of carelessness and corruption - what is the Government doing? It is passing the lex specialis for EXPO 2027, which allows building without a use permit, which allows facilities to be used without responsibility, to bypass even the basic environmental impact check," she said.
She added that "it is a law against citizens, justice and life".
Those gathered also carry the banners "Rotten government falls on its own", "No surrender", "Machines against machinery" and the flags of Serbia and the faculty. The banner "Get out, fight" is at the head of one of the student columns.
Photo: Vreme / DSSilence near the building of the old railway station
Citizens and bikers joined the students at the protest.
The city center was blocked.
The former main railway station of Belgrade,
the beginning of a large student protest,
a piece of the atmosphere. pic.twitter.com/NHfx0ynEml
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What is happening in the country and the world, what is in the newspapers and how to pass the time?
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