People in Serbia have been taking to the streets for anti-government protests for weeks, and what began as a student protest has turned into a popular uprising because, unlike previous protests, it has broad support from citizens who have stopped tolerating corruption and disregard for the law, states the Swiss public television SRF.
At the head of the movement are students, who are demanding a full clarification of the causes of the deadly tragedy in Novi Sad in November last year, but now much more is at stake, writes the SRF website.
SRF writes that on the same day as the accident in Novi Sad, when the collapse of a canopy at the newly renovated railway station in Novi Sad killed 16 people, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said in a public address that the canopy was not part of the reconstruction works, but it quickly “turned out that this statement was not accurate.”
“Corruption soon came to the fore as a possible cause,” and students, SRF states, feel it daily on their own skin. The television conveys the words of a student, Aleksandar, who says that a few years ago he had to have his appendix operated on, but the doctors did not want to do it unless he paid them 100 to 150 euros.
“The (Serbian) President Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) control practically all levels of the state. From local self-governments, through the judiciary to the majority of the media, which are either directly or indirectly under the control of the government and openly spread its propaganda,” the television states.
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In Serbia, SRF adds, “positions are filled with loyalists, and a job in the state administration or public companies can only be found through connections.”
Both domestic and foreign observers noted “serious irregularities” in the last parliamentary elections in December 2023, and “when all this is added up, Serbia can at best be called a partial democracy.”
SRF emphasizes that many segments of the population have joined the protests, especially the massive protest in Belgrade which gathered 300,000 people, and especially farmers, whose low incomes can no longer keep pace with the rising cost of living fueled by inflation.
“People had reconciled themselves to all this and simply accepted all the illegalities in the state, but the accident in Novi Sad shook them out of their sleep,” writes SRF.
“Vučić likes to present himself as a capable man who is economically advancing the country. At the same time, the majority of people are struggling with a fall in real wages and poor public services. It is precisely this contradiction that has forced people to take to the streets,” writes the Swiss television.
“And the students, with their persistent protest, have put President Vučić under pressure he has not been under in his current term. Whether this is enough for change remains a question,” SRF pointed out.
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Source: N1, Foto: N1