After the end of the 15-hour blockade in Kragujevac today, protesting students announced on social networks that there will be a new anti-government action in Niš on March 1, BTA reported.
The students traveled from Kragujevac back to their faculties, transported free of charge by volunteer taxi drivers.
The 15-hour action in the city, located in central Serbia, passed without incident. Thousands of citizens flocked to Kragujevac, responding to the call of the students and stopping traffic in memory of the 15 victims who died when the concrete canopy of the Novi Sad railway station collapsed last November.
The slogan of the blockade was “Let's meet at Sretenie!“, and the students chose Kragujevac because they perceive the city as a symbol and center of the rule of law. On February 15, 1835, the first constitution of the Serbian principality was adopted in Kragujevac, known as Sretenska, after the church holiday of the Presentation of the Lord, which the Serbian Orthodox Church celebrates on February 15. On this day, as well as today, Serbia's national holiday - Statehood Day - is also celebrated.
The protesting students, who have blocked more than 60 faculties in Serbia for the past two and a half months, are demanding criminal and political responsibility for the tragedy in Novi Sad and accusing the government of corruption and nepotism, which led to poor-quality repairs to the railway station in the northern Serbian city.
Yesterday, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party called a rally in Sremska Mitrovica, about 200 km north of Kragujevac. In his address from the podium, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that an attempt at a "color revolution" is underway in Serbia and called on students to end the blockades and resume the academic process at their universities.
The government and the president claim that the students' demands have been met and have even informed the diplomatic missions of the European Union member states about this in a letter. Students and the academic community reject these claims.
Previously, student protesters organized a 27-hour blockade of the Freedom Bridge in Novi Sad, as well as a 24-hour blockade of the "Avtokomanda" road junction in Belgrade. Due to an attack by student protesters in front of the office of the ruling party in Novi Sad, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned, and last year two ministers also resigned from their posts.