Protesting Students Declare Serbian Authorities Illegitimate

BETAPHOTO/Milan Ilic

Students who have been occupying their respective universities for the past seven months declared at a rally in Belgrade's Slavija Square late on June 28 the incumbent Serbian authorities illegitimate.

"There is no more dilemma, it is time to take what is ours. What we have felt for years as a vice and mute injustice has now clearly shown its face, a face of arrogance, corruption, treason, and irresponsibility. Since Nov. 1, 2024 each new day in Serbia has been worse than the last. The tragedy at the newly renovated railway station in Novi Sad was no coincidence, it was a consequence of years of neglect, plunder, party cronyism, and money laundering. We won't take that anymore," said a female student who addressed the demonstrators.

The protesting students said the protest was no longer a student protest but a civil one. "As of this moment, this is no longer a student protest and we are staying here as citizens," a speaker said on a stage set up in Slavija Square in downtown Belgrade. The students announced on social media that the deadline for the ultimatum they had previously given the Serbian Cabinet, to call a snap general election and end a months-long gathering in Pionirski Park and outside the parliament, expired at 9 p.m. on June 28.

The Archive of Public Gatherings organization estimated that some 140,000 people gathered at the demonstrations in Slavija square, whereas previously the Interior Ministry issued a statement saying the crowd numbered around 36,000. Police director Dragan Vasiljevic said that "several dozen hooligans" were arrested in incidents that took place in the city center, adding that six police officers and two citizens were injured during the intervention.