Protest in Belgrade on June 28 (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)
The university-student-led protests that have been going on in Serbia for the better part of a year were not launched from abroad but originated within the country, former U.S. ambassador in Belgrade William Montgomery said on Sept. 18.
“Several months ago, high-level representatives of the government asked me whether the current student protests in Serbia were initiated abroad, whether they are supported by foreign governments. My answer: not at all. There are no foreign resources or aid [involved], it all originated within the country,” Montgomery told the latest edition of the Nedeljnik weekly.
The former ambassador went on to say that the protests’ leaders maintain they are against corruption, but other than that have no political platform.
“I’ve spoken to one of the student leaders and when I asked, ‘What next?’ he said they would get rid of all corrupt political parties and then audit the ownership of large companies that are also corrupt,” Montgomery explained.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) recently stated that the youth-led “riots in Serbia” are actually being backed by the European Union and that there is a plan to complete “Serbia’s Maidan [revolution]” on the one-year anniversary of the Nov. 1, 2024 Novi Sad Railway Station accident that killed 16 people and sparked the protest movement.
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