Students, populist prez hold parallel rallies as tensions spike in Serbia

Kragujevac, Feb 15: Serbia’s striking students and supporters of populist President Aleksandar Vucic were holding parallel rallies on Saturday as both marked the country’s Statehood Day with notably contrasting messages.
The student-led protest is the latest in a nationwide anti-graft movement that reflects mounting calls for fundamental political changes in the Balkan state, triggered after a concrete canopy on a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on November 1, killing 15 people.
The rally in the central industrial city of Kragujevac drew tens of thousands of people who, bedsides demanding justice over the accident, have been asking to root out rampant endemic corruption and respect for the rule of law.
Students chose Kragujevac for Saturday’s rally because of its history. In 1835, Serbia was still part of the Ottoman Empire, and people in Kragujevac announced a new constitution that sought to limit the powers of the then-rulers. The date is now celebrated as the Statehood Day.
People from all over the country streamed into Kragujevac for Saturday’s gathering.
The students arrived Friday to cheers from the residents. Ahead of the protest, they organised marches in various parts of the country, encouraging people to converge in Kragujevac. Some walked, others ran or cycled. Along their journey, people greeted them with food and refreshments and offered accommodation, many crying and expressing hope for change.
Serbian authorities were set to bus in thousands of supporters from throughout the country as well as neighbouring Bosnia. Some opposition activists have said they will try to prevent their arrival.
Vucic said on Instagram that his supporters wish to “defend and save Serbia from those who want to destroy it.” The anti-graft movement is Vucic’s biggest challenge in recent years. The president – who has ruled Serbia with a firm grip on power for more than a decade – and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have been previously accused of stifling democratic freedoms, publicly discrediting opponents and rigging elections, according to international vote observers. (AP)