I have been avoiding this post for so long, but I know it's important to spread the word about this. Reason why I was avoiding it, it's because I am already drained from hearing bad news daily, and living in such place where we had already two days of sadness in this year, that it's very hard for me to sum it all up in one post, and write so many negative things. But if nothing else, we need to have hope, hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel, and that this will all be worth it and better days are coming.
For all my young adult years, I have been an activist and part of many protests. Due to unbelievably bad and corrupted government, protests have become regular things in my country. The biggest ones were in 2023, after the huge massacre that happened in primary school, done by the child, and then another one, only day after, probably influenced by huge media coverage the day before. Of course, the government blamed people on the streets for trying to use this huge tragedy to get in power and for mixing it with politics. While people only wanted for the government to take act and do something about it. Those protests had approximately 55–65 thousand people, and took place over a couple of months in the capital. Unfortunately, even though that was the most people in the recent history in the streets, it wasn't enough.
As it usually happens, it took another tragedy for more people to finally wake up and go on the streets. There was a huge tragedy in Novi Sad, when an overpass at the railway station collapsed and killed 15 people, including children. You may think, "it's sad, but tragedies happens", well this was not a tragedy, but a murder. Since government is corrupted as much as it can be, they have unqualified people running important positions in the country, just so they vote for them and do what they want, use them to steal money, they also did the same railway station in the previous 2 years, renovated it twice in the past 3 years, and it was just opened 4 months before the tragedy. 65 million euros invested in it. Just so it falls apart 4 months later. The government, of course, immediately ordered media to say EVERYTHING was renovated BUT the overpass, which of course doesn't make anything better, as if that was the case, why so much money was invested and work wasn't done completely.
As time passed and there was no people responsible for it, people got more and more angry, and on the streets, once again.
But this time, what happened was better than any previous attempt, because students were the one to organize protests. Students didn't want any political background or any other politician to represent them, and they only wanted from government to do what was reasonable, to get all the documents about the railway out, push those responsible for the deaths and invest more in university.
The biggest protest was on 27th of December 2024, when there was about 100 thousand of people in the streets of capital. What makes these protests also different, is that beside the usual noise that protestants make, there are 15 minutes of silence for all the people killed. Protests are continued over the weeks as well as blockade of most of the Universities in the country. With time, more and more people joined and stood along with students, actors, professors, lawyers. Even high schools and primary schools decided to go on strike, but the government solution was to announce winter holidays earlier than usual. Now they raised the salaries of the educators, in hope to stop the strike. So the next days are probably crucial in this fight against years and years of tyranny and destruction of our country. On Friday, there will be a total attempt of strike in the entire country and I will write about how it goes. I will maybe write more about protests and everything around it, because I am sure, this will be in books one day. Just imagine the 100 thousand people, and complete silence for 15 minutes. I am only scared, once again, it will be all for nothing, but soon, we will know.
Photos are from the biggest protests, just showing couple of transparents, even though there were many amazing ones.
Thank you for reading my long and exhausting post.
Love&Peace
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Unfortunately it is happening in many countries like in Spain too, but here people are resigned while the country is becoming like Venezuela step by step, full of corruption important cases EVERY SINGLE DAYS; so people forget one because there is one new. And in the last floods in Valencia, well it was a murder of thousand of people, with no money aid from the government and no one has been fired even, and people do nothing.... frustrating. I understand you well, hope that there in Serbia something happens because at least people seem to be aware and active, here, resignation now.
!LUV
About the railway station beeing renovated for huge amounts, reminds me of similar projects in Bulgaria, often co-funded by the EU. Streets were renovated and after some months the first holes develop again. Huge amounts of money burned or being redirected. And in Bulgaria people even don't protest anymore, many young ppl left the country. Hope protests will change something for the better.