Serbians in Bulgaria’s capital protest outside embassy in solidarity with students
Members of the Serbian community in Bulgaria held a protest outside the Serbian embassy in capital city Sofia on February 9 in solidarity with students protesting against irresponsible governance and corruption in their country.
In Serbia, the continuing student-led protests were sparked by the November 1 collapse of a railway station roof in Novi Sad which left 15 people dead.
Miloš Vučević resigned as Serbia’s Prime Minister and Goran Vesić, who resigned as Transport Minister, is among those facing criminal charges in connection with the roof collapse. But the main focus of the anger of the students and those supporting them in large-scale, prolonged protests is Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
The protest in Sofia was called with the theme “impunity and corruption kill”.
A member of the Serbian community in Bulgaria, Đorđe Daskalović, told reporters: “We simply want to express solidarity with the citizens in Serbia, who have been protesting for more than three months with specific demands for the government, for justice and for those responsible for the collapse of the railway station in Novi Sad to be punished.
“The right path is freedom of speech, stronger institutions, full democracy – that is, free elections,” Daskalović said.
The poster says: Don’t play hide and seek, we are not children. You don’t have a single ace up your sleeve anymore.
‘Sofia is with the students’. The text demands publication of the complete documentation related to the reconstruction of the railway station in Novi Sad, dismissal of charges against protesters who were detained, criminal charges against those who earlier attacked professors and students protesting in Serbia, and increased budget for higher education.
The large-scale protests in Serbia continued on February 9, including with a blockade of a major bridge in Belgrade. Vučić has sought to portray the protests as the work of “external forces” in the West.
(Photos: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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