Why did the protests start in Serbia?

2025-03-15 10:23:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Serbian activist Aleksandra Tomanic spoke about the protests in Serbia on the "Public Square" podcast with Ditmir Bushati.

Tomanic explained the reason for the start of the protests in Serbia, which, according to her, were triggered by the tragic incident of the collapse of the railway station shelter, which killed 15 people.

After this event, citizens gathered in Novi Sad, where a student was arrested, and then blockades began at other universities.

According to Tomanic, students do not call the event in Novi Sad a tragedy, but a murder because it is the failure of institutions, it is corruption at high levels of politics that led to these deaths.

"This question is anything but simple, as you know. There are two sides to it. First, there is the starting point, why now? And the starting point was the collapse of the railway station shelter. The shelter was part of the roof of the railway station and it collapsed on November 1, killing 15 people.

This was a huge shock to the entire society because that railway station had just been renovated and inaugurated by top politicians, twice even last year, and then it killed 15 people.

You see that we live in a country where we are building roads, infrastructure, where we are the big builders and then you realize that all this is so unsustainable that it had a big effect. People started to come together in despair and with tears in their eyes from Novi Sad, which is a very big city. Novi Sad has not been the same city since November 1st.

The regime had no choice but to bring in people who attacked the citizens who were standing silently. Soon after, a student from the Faculty of Arts was arrested and in solidarity, the students went out to protest. They were attacked again.

They then put forward some demands. Everything was dynamic. Within a short time, 4 universities were blocked and then 65 other universities were blocked. They have been protesting for three months. The reason is this tragedy in Novi Sad which for most is not a tragedy, but a murder, because it is the failure of institutions, it is corruption at high levels of politics that led to these deaths. This was the starting point”, Tomanic said./ CNA