This article was originally published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Read the original article.
By Iva Martinovic and RFE/RL's Balkan Service
NOVI SAD, Serbia -- Tens of thousands of protesters poured into Serbia's second city on November 1 as the country marked the first anniversary of the deadly railway station roof collapse in Novi Sad that sparked Serbia’s largest anti-government protests in decades.
The tragedy in the northern town on November 1, 2024, killed 16 people and shocked the public amid reports that corrupt practices led to shoddy construction at the railway station, a flagship government project led by Chinese businesses.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called for a peaceful commemoration as the government declared November 1 a national day of mourning.
Novi Sad was packed with people as protesters streamed into the city by car, bus, or on foot from across the country.
The protesters observed 16 minutes of silence — one for each victim — starting at 11:52 a.m. local time, when the roof came down following renovation work a year ago.
Some protesters carried large red hearts bearing the names of the victims, held white flowers, and laid wreaths in front of the railway station.
"We just want those who were responsible to be brought to justice for this crime that happened," one of the protesters, who gave only her first name, Brankica, told RFE/RL.
Masha, a protester who came from the capital, Belgrade, to pay her respects to the victims, said she does not believe that those responsible for the tragedy will ever be held accountable.
“Only time will tell if it will be determined who was guilty and responsible, but I’m not optimistic it will happen,” she told RFE/RL.
Dijana Hrka, whose son, Stefan was killed in the roof collapse, announced she was starting a hunger strike in front of Belgrade City Hall.
"I need to know who killed my child, who killed 16 people. Someone must be held accountable for this," she said.
Flags were flying at half-staff across the country, and public broadcasters adjusted programming to reflect the somber occasion. Entertainment events were postponed in accordance with a government decree published earlier this week.
President Vucic shared a photo of himself in a church holding a candle at a commemoration ceremony in Belgrade for the victims of the disaster.
"Let the names of those killed be a reminder that human life is above any divisions [in society,]" Vucic wrote in an Instagram post.
During his address on the eve of the Day of National Mourning, Vucic expressed “regret” over what he described as mistakes of the past.
"At some points, I myself said some things that I regret saying, about students, protesters and other people. I apologize for that," the president said, without specifying which statements he was referring to.
He also said that he knows that some people are still angry that "those responsible have not yet been identified, let alone punished" for the canopy collapse.
"This is disappointing for me as well, although such processes are complicated and take a long time in other countries. I can understand the anger of the families. I sincerely hope that these questions will be answered soon," Vucic said.
As Serbian students mark the first anniversary of the fatal building collapse, there are signs that far-right nationalist groups have sought to infiltrate and even hijack the movement.
Early demands for political accountability, followed by calls for the resignation of Vucic and new elections, have been complemented with strong anti-Kosovo rhetoric.
“I’m proud when we fight for our national interests -- for Kosovo and Metohija,” one protester, who identified himself only as Stefan, told RFE/RL’s Balkan Service. He was using a term favored by the Serbian government, which does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
The yearlong student protests are the largest in Serbia since demonstrations that led to the toppling of Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic 25 years ago.
The demonstrations were marked by a commitment to strict political neutrality, focusing on calls for a thorough investigation and keeping a distance from both ruling and opposition parties.
The first major rightward shift came on June 28, on the anniversary of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo Polje, a charged date in Serbian politics that was used by nationalists to justify the Balkan wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
During a protest that day, speakers made calls to “defend the Serbian people” outside the country’s borders, apparently referring to large ethnic Serbian communities in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“Speakers were chosen to highlight both the movement’s diversity and the idea of national unity,” an electrical engineering student from Belgrade, who declined to be named, told RFE/RL.
Other people who had taken part in protests felt alienated by the rhetoric.
“These are not the values I stand for. If they want my support or my vote, they need to clearly distance themselves from that rhetoric,” said a woman who gave her name only as Milica.
Milos, a man in his fifties who has been joining anti-government protests since the 1990s, said that “after cooling down” he understood the speeches as “a populist move -- an attempt to reach broader audiences ahead of possible elections.”
The student call for early elections has not been successful. But ahead of scheduled local ballots in October, the heat turned up again.
Law students in Belgrade organized a rally demanding accountability for "violations of Serbian rights" in Kosovo. On social media, organizers accused Serbia’s government of "betraying Kosovo."
Ultranationalist and far-right groups -- some of them banned by Serbia’s Constitutional Court -- appeared alongside students, although only about 1,000 people attended. This was far fewer than at many other protests.
Shortly afterwards, a European Parliament resolution condemned what it called “nationalist narratives” in parts of the protest movement.
"The right is absolutely trying to take over the protests, but it's not that big. It's just louder and better organized," Dusko Radosavljevic, a professor at the law and business faculty at the University of Novi Sad, told RFE/RL.
He added that the appearance of extremist groups at demonstrations was often staged.
“These are frequently provocations organized by security services on the state payroll, meant to create confusion,” he said.
"In a divided society like ours, many students still can't tell the difference between healthy patriotism and nationalism," said Boris Kojcinovic, a philosophy student from Novi Sad. He recalled nationalists grabbing European Union flags from protesters but added: "I feel most of us are here for one goal -- to build a healthy society."
That message has also resonated in Sandzak, a region in southwestern Serbia with a Muslim majority.
Marching under the message "You Won’t Divide Us," students from Sandzak made a 400-kilometer protest march to Novi Sad, arriving on November 1, to mark the anniversary.
A welcome ceremony lasted for more than four hours. The largest group -- nearly 4,000 students who had walked about 80 kilometers from Belgrade -- marched into Novi Sad shortly before midnight.
“The feeling is incredible -- this number of people, this amount of positive energy, and love in the air is something that can’t be described in words. It simply has to be experienced,” Marija, a student from Novi Pazar, told RFE/RL.
Vladimir Lekic, who came from Mladenovac, near Belgrade, to welcome the students in Novi Sad, told RFE/RL that in “normal countries,” the protesters’ demands “would have been met long ago, and the demonstrations would already be over.”
“Here, people have to give their last atom of strength to get anything done. This is a great student sacrifice -- we’ll see what comes of it,” he said.
During earlier mass protests in March, President Vucic acknowledged the "enormous negative energy and anger" directed at authorities and said that "we will have to change ourselves."
However, student groups have not been quieted, citing a lack of progress on reforms and on holding those responsible for the Novi Sad disaster accountable.
Copyright (c)2025 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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