Protests, Blockades Continue in over 20 Locales in Serbia

Theater In The Street Protest In Novi Sad (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC)

Protests, roadblocks and long-distance student marches continued over the weekend in more than 20 towns in Serbia and in several places abroad.

Beginning as always with 15 minutes of silence at 11:52 a.m. in the country's largest cities in remembrance of the 15 people who died in the collapse of a concrete overhang at the Novi Sad railway station, protests also took place in Kikinda, Sid, Zajecar, Vrsac, Vlasotince, Zabalj, Sombor, Tovarisevo near Backa Palanka, Mali Zvornik, Arandjelovac, Smederevo, Ruma, Mladenovac, Pirot, Turija, and others, including a first-time protest in Belanovica.

Internationally, there were protest rallies in Zurich and Perth. In Belgrade, the Pancevo Bridge was blocked on both ends for one hour late on Feb. 22 and the blockade ended with a symbolic exchange of flags between the groups on each side.

In Novi Sad, the flashlights of a myriad smartphones lit up the Petrovaradin Fort after a protest march of citizens from surrounding villages and towns. A teachers' marathon relay was announced for Feb. 25, when teachers are scheduled to deliver a declaration of unconditional support for protesting students to their counterparts in Belgrade.