How students ran into the EU

A group of students from Serbia ran for eighteen days and finally, on Monday, after 2000 kilometers, they arrived where they went - in Brussels. The action "From my village to Brussels" started on April 25, when a group of students decided on this venture because they are not satisfied with the government's response to the six-month protests and faculty blockades. Before them, a group of eighty cyclists from Serbia crossed Europe to reach Strasbourg. This action is actually a continuation of that - male and female students go outside the borders of Serbia and spread the message about what is happening here.

On Tuesday, before entering the European Parliament (EP), the students paid their respects to the victims of the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad in an unusual way: they took off the sneakers in which they ran to Brussels and arranged them together with one white rose and the birth and death years of all those who died in the Novi Sad tragedy. Ultramarathon students then entered the European Parliament building and started meetings.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE EU?

The first meeting was attended by a dozen members of the European Parliament from five political groups, but only one member of the European People's Party, the party that leads the ruling coalition and whose affiliated member is the Serbian Progressive Party.

Although a large part of the deputies already know what is happening in Serbia from November 1 until today, on Tuesday, May 13, they had the opportunity to hear the voice of the students firsthand. The members of the European Parliament asked the students about their attitude towards the European Union, considering that controversial messages were heard from Serbia on that topic as well.

Specifically, on the day when the runners arrived in Brussels, the plenum of students in the blockade of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade issued a statement that did not mention the running colleagues, but expressed a not-so-European sentiment. For now, there is no news from Brussels about how the students answered these questions, but it is certain that the plenary session of the Faculty of Philosophy has several times taken a position that is either different from others, or on issues that most of the blocked faculties have not expressed, at least publicly.

Certainly, neither the most hardened Eurosceptics, nor the Filozofski plenum, can deny the fact that Serbia is geographically in Europe and that the country is a candidate for membership.

"Students received the support of all political groups. We have certain differences between us here," said Biljana Borzan, MEP from the Social Democrats. "However, when it comes to some basic values ​​such as, for example, the fight against corruption, the rule of law and the like, we are generally united here and in this sense the students received support."

Biljana Borzan said this probably not realizing that the plenums of faculties in the blockade function in the same way.

She added that the MEPs did not declare their political views, nor did they give any advice regarding internal affairs in Serbia, but they provided support: "It may be easy to organize everything in the short term, however, in the long run it is difficult to maintain that determination and desire for a better Serbia," she said.

Green MEP Gordan Bosanac said it was good news that all pro-European representatives were at the meeting: "Even though I work in the parliament, I know that it is not always easy to gather everyone. But that means there is a lot of interest here," he said.

The Bosnian pointed out that the statement of one student was very important to him:

"When they asked him how it was possible that they managed to rise up against the regime, and they lived in that regime that captured the institutions, he said that, in fact, their parents passed on those values ​​to them. It means that there is always a parallel system that preserves the values ​​of democracy and human rights in Serbia."

On the other hand, the students say that they conveyed the message, and that the MEPs heard it.

"We have made it clear what is happening in Serbia and we will see how things will happen in the future. They absolutely understand the message we are sending and in their opinion, the things we are asking for are actually the things they also stand for as an institution and give us support to persevere in our struggle," the students said.

MEETING WITH PICULA

The student movement, which brought a new dynamic to the political scene in Serbia, is now at a crossroads, said European Parliament rapporteur Tonino Picula after meeting with the students. "The marathon is perhaps a good comparison with the European Union", said Picula for "Deutsche Vele": "It is not about running short distances, but about a long journey that requires sacrifices".

Picula says he and his colleagues congratulated the students on what they have been doing for months. "The student movement, which caused great interest in the EU, but also generated great interest in Serbia, is at a crossroads. Now we need to hear some clearer answers to very specific questions about what will happen next in Serbia," says Picula.

He also said that at the moment the biggest obstacle for Serbia is the nature of its government: "That nature, embodied in Aleksandar Vucic, is really ambivalent towards its own declared goal, that is, membership in the EU, because we cannot accept as credible the wish list that comes from official Belgrade and completely different, discrepant behavior, such as the recent departure of the Serbian president to Putin's parade in Moscow." That's why, says Picula, in Brussels, they suggested to the students that they should make a very clear decision in daily political action for those values ​​represented by the EU, and also organize a concrete action, which should fundamentally change the situation in Serbia.

In his opinion, the student movement has brought a new dynamic to the political scene in Serbia, but to what extent this dynamic will represent a concrete solution to the accumulated problems of Serbia - remains to be seen. "In other words, the government in democracies changes in elections, and what is not clear at the moment is whether the students want to be supported or they want to support someone," said the EP reporter, although it is clear to us here how the students imagined their list in the elections that they demand from the government. Namely, they will compile the list, but it will not be the students themselves, but the people they choose.

FOR THAT TIME, IN SERBIA

While students from Serbia in Brussels explain their position and the political crisis in Serbia to MEPs and representatives of EU institutions, Antonio Costa, former Portuguese Prime Minister and President of the European Council, is in Belgrade. Unlike the usual practice, Costa will also meet with representatives of the opposition. This is usually not the case since the European Council is the highest political body of the European Union, and its representatives meet only with officials of candidate countries. Asked about Serbia's progress, Kosta said that accession to EU membership is based on merit and that the same criteria apply to all candidates, that now not everyone is at the same place in accession, but that he thinks that those who are currently not leading can catch up with the leading candidates.

The vocabulary is certainly standard diplomatic and semi-cryptic, but it is certain that the President of Serbia understood the message.

And while all these visits are taking place, another darkness hangs over Serbia. On May 13, the High Court in Novi Sad extended the detention of six defendants for preparing an act against the constitutional order and security of Serbia in co-perpetration. We are talking about activists from Novi Sad who were arrested on March 14 after several television stations with a national frequency broadcast a recording of their completely silly and harmless conversation. The press release states that the extra-trial panel of the High Court in Novi Sad, ex officio reviewing the decision on custody against the defendants Mladen Cvijetić, Srđan Đurić, Lazar Dinić, Marija Vasić, Lado Jovović and Davor Stefanović, and after the indictment was filed, unanimously passed a decision extending the detention of the named defendants for 30 days, which according to that decision can last until June 12.

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And while we have people who have been rotting in prison for two months, one woman is free: Milica Stojanović, who during the January protests in Belgrade hit and seriously injured a student with a car, has been released from custody. Although she was initially charged with attempted murder, the indictment against her was amended and now Stojanović is charged with a lesser crime - "serious crime against general security".

If anyone thought that the government does not influence the judiciary, just look at these two decisions. He will only be told everything about the state of human rights in Serbia.