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Student protests in Serbia continue as many businesses go on a one-day strike

Protest walk in Belgrade, 24 January 2025; Photo: Facebook / Zeleno-levi front

The article will be updated throughout the day.

Multiple businesses and organizations went on a one-day strike in Serbia today in support of the ongoing students’ protests. Protest walks gathering large numbers of people took place across the country. Meanwhile, a counter-rally organized by the ruling party is taking place in the afternoon in Jagodina, central Serbia.

Protesting students, as well as opposition parties, have been calling for a “general strike” for several weeks as a way to put more pressure on the government to accept students’ demands regarding the Novi Sad railway station tragedy. Students, who have been blocking their universities since December, demand the full release of documents related to the recent reconstruction of the station.

Multiple businesses including cafes, restaurants, bookstores, and cinemas opted not to work today in support of the students. Theatres, media outlets and civil society organizations joined them as well.

Around noon, student-led protest walks started across the country, gathering large crowds in Belgrade and Novi Sad.

Multiple schools also chose not to work today, continuing the protests which began earlier this week, when the school semester did not start properly in many schools across the country. Ministry of Education announced that the salaries of teachers who refused to work will be lowered in January.

Opposition parties support the protests but are not leading them. Several opposition MPs and councillors in Novi Sad blocked the Novi Sad-Belgrade highway. They were arrested by the police.

Another group of opposition politicians from the conservative NADA coalition blocked a section of the highway in Belgrade.

A serious incident occurred in Belgrade when one of the protesters was deliberately hit by a car. According to the media reports, the young woman who was hit was seriously hurt and is currently being treated by an emergency service. Another protester was hurt on 16 January when a car hit her, triggering a new wave of protests.

Serbia has been in political turmoil since 1 November 2024, when a part of the roof of the recently reconstructed railway station in the city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people. Following the initial gatherings in Novi Sad and Belgrade, the main form of the protests became the 15-minute weekly commemorations on the streets across the country.

The protests took a decisive turn when the students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, who were participating in a 15-minute commemoration, were physically attacked in late November. As a reaction, students started a blockade of their faculty, which quickly spread across the country, leading to a blockade of most of the faculties by mid-December.

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