Serbia Protest March Begins Amid Political Turmoil
Hundreds of students set off on a protest march of some 80 kilometers from Belgrade to the northern city of Novi Sad on January 30. The demonstrations come amid months of anti-government protests following a deadly infrastructure collapse in Novi Sad in November 2024.
![Students who had been blockading Belgrade universities set off on a protest march toward the northern city of Novi Sad on the morning of January 30. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/8c7475e5-6558-4f80-9a21-ba615f288f2e_w1024_q10_s.jpeg)
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Students who had been blockading Belgrade universities set off on a protest march toward the northern city of Novi Sad on the morning of January 30.
![A protester carries a whistle and placard in Belgrade ahead of the march. Demonstrators say they will march to Novi Sad and join protesters there to blockade three critical bridges in the northern city. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/b136b377-23d8-4c78-bca1-1a5bc0fc17d9_w1024_q10_s.jpeg)
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A protester carries a whistle and placard in Belgrade ahead of the march.
Demonstrators say they will march to Novi Sad and join protesters there to blockade three critical bridges in the northern city.
Demonstrators say they will march to Novi Sad and join protesters there to blockade three critical bridges in the northern city.
![Protesters set off from Belgrade. The march comes three months after a railway station canopy in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people and sparking massive protests across Serbia. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/1ee2a20e-40f1-4228-80bf-3b794c799bb5_w1024_q10_s.jpeg)
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Protesters set off from Belgrade.
The march comes three months after a railway station canopy in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people and sparking massive protests across Serbia.
The march comes three months after a railway station canopy in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people and sparking massive protests across Serbia.
![Protesters gather ahead of the march. Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned on January 28 following weeks of mass protests over the Novi Sad tragedy. Vucevic announced he and Novi Sad Mayor Milan Djuric were stepping down to show accountability for what happened. "The mayor of Novi Sad and I consider ourselves objectively responsible for what happened in Novi Sad and for that we are willingly paying the political price," he said.](https://gdb.rferl.org/d76b9819-0f68-4801-9a16-c76bcddd3aca_w1024_q10_s.jpeg)
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Protesters gather ahead of the march.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned on January 28 following weeks of mass protests over the Novi Sad tragedy. Vucevic announced he and Novi Sad Mayor Milan Djuric were stepping down to show accountability for what happened.
"The mayor of Novi Sad and I consider ourselves objectively responsible for what happened in Novi Sad and for that we are willingly paying the political price," he said.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned on January 28 following weeks of mass protests over the Novi Sad tragedy. Vucevic announced he and Novi Sad Mayor Milan Djuric were stepping down to show accountability for what happened.
"The mayor of Novi Sad and I consider ourselves objectively responsible for what happened in Novi Sad and for that we are willingly paying the political price," he said.
![Protesters hold signs declaring "Students are our heroes" and "Where students look, I jump," ahead of the march. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/bc83084f-fc69-4aab-8a09-ff0a5b064811_w1024_q10_s.jpeg)
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Protesters hold signs declaring "Students are our heroes" and "Where students look, I jump," ahead of the march.
![Hundreds of demonstrators, most of them students, gather ahead of the march. Serbian authorities have said they will redirect traffic and provide water tankers and ambulances to the marchers. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/f573f1dc-e53d-406a-ba5d-0e38f405b7a9_w1024_q10_s.jpeg)
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Hundreds of demonstrators, most of them students, gather ahead of the march.
Serbian authorities have said they will redirect traffic and provide water tankers and ambulances to the marchers.
Serbian authorities have said they will redirect traffic and provide water tankers and ambulances to the marchers.
![Several marchers were seen wearing backpacks and carrying camping equipment for the march, which is expected to take three days to reach Novi Sad. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/0de11eb8-d2d3-466d-9833-b37cb887200f_w1024_q10_s.jpeg)
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Several marchers were seen wearing backpacks and carrying camping equipment for the march, which is expected to take three days to reach Novi Sad.