Hundreds of taxi drivers from Belgrade, Niš and Pančevo, together with their colleagues from Kragujevac, are returning students on Sunday who walked 130 to 150 kilometers in a three-day march on Friday to participate in the “Let’s Meet at Sretenje” rally in Kragujevac on the occasion of Statehood Day.
The long columns of taxi drivers were seen off in the stands by the people of Kragujevac, throwing flower petals and chanting “Students, students”, and they were also greeted by residents of the surrounding settlements.
More than 800 taxi drivers from all taxi associations arrived in Kragujevac from Belgrade alone around noon, joined by colleagues from Niš and Pančevo, and Kragujevac taxi drivers drove the students to the highway to be picked up.
It is the second action of solidarity and support for students after more than 670 taxi drivers returned students from Novi Sad after the march to the rally where on February 1, tens of thousands of people, led by students, marked three months since the death of 15 people in the fall of the canopy at the Novi Sad railway station.
“The children deserved it,” one of the taxi drivers told reporters.
The wave of protests in Serbia, triggered by the Novi Sad tragedy, grew into a student movement and an almost three-month blockade of more than 60 faculties in four state university centers.
The students demand the responsibility of the authorities for the accident in Novi Sad, the exposure of corruption at the state level and the effective work of institutions without political influence, and day by day they receive more and more support from citizens, public figures, educators, farmers, trade unions, cultural workers…
At the same time, state leaders – starting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić – accuse them of being foreign mercenaries and of trying to carry out a “color revolution” and overthrow the government without elections.
On Saturday, at a gathering of his supporters in Srijemska Mitrovica, Vučić said that the student protests will continue for several more weeks. He euphorically asserted that he had defeated the “colored revolution” and that he would write a textbook about it, a “bestseller” that would sell millions of copies worldwide, Hina writes.
Photo: Hina
