A group of Serbian students arrived in Brussels on Monday after completing a nearly 2,000-kilometre ultramarathon from Novi Sad, Serbia, part of a growing wave of youth-led activism demanding democratic reform and accountability from the Serbian government.
Titled “From My Village to Brussels”, the symbolic run saw nearly two dozen students make the journey to the European capital, where they are scheduled to meet Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from several political groups. They will also hold meetings with European Commissioner for Enlargement Martha Kos and Commissioner for Youth Glenn Micallef.
Reaction to tragedy
The 1,993-kilometre relay began on 25 April and was originally intended to include 16 participants — one for each of the victims killed in the collapse of a newly installed canopy at Novi Sad’s Chinese-renovated railway station. That disaster sparked national outrage and mass protests across Serbia, with demonstrators calling for accountability from president Aleksandar Vučić’s government. The student contingent was later expanded to 21 runners, each covering 15 kilometres per day in a relay format until reaching Brussels.
This is not the first act of protest by Serbian youth. In late April, 80 students cycled 1,400 kilometres from Novi Sad to Strasbourg over 13 days to meet with European lawmakers. These highly visible, physically demanding journeys are part of a broader grassroots campaign to keep Serbia’s democratic decline on the EU’s radar.
Concern for morale in Serbia
While support for the students has grown among the public and the Serbian diaspora across the EU, activists say momentum at home is fading. “Nothing is changing and enthusiasm has fallen… students are still in the blockade, but there are less and less people going to protests. After March 15 it seems like we are losing momentum,” Tijana Đuknić, cultural programme coordinator at Youth Initiative for Human Rights Serbia (YIHR), told Belga on Tuesday. “More and more EU officials are speaking out, but I don’t know how we will be able to change the government completely.”
Serbian ties with Russia
Just one day after the European Parliament adopted resolution on Serbia’s European integration, criticising the Western Balkan country’s non-compliance with the EU’s foreign policy, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić travelled to Moscow and met with Russian president Vladimir Putin on 7 May.
“I know that criticism from Brussels will follow, and I expect the EU to punish me, not Serbia… I was elected by the Serbian people… I was not elected in Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, or anywhere else,” Vučić said.
With the protests in their sixth month, the students and protestors are calling for early parliamentary elections in hopes of ousting Vučić.
