(Adnkronos) – Student protests against corruption, which began in Serbia, are spreading throughout the Balkans, with thousands of young people taking to the streets under the slogan “Corruption kills”. The wave of demonstrations, unprecedented since the 1990s, was triggered by the collapse of a recently renovated railway shelter in Novi Sad on November 1, which killed 16 people. The disaster sparked outrage, leading to the resignation of Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic.
In the wake of the Serbian protests, similar movements have taken hold in North Macedonia and Montenegro, while in Bulgaria protesters have expressed solidarity. In North Macedonia, the symbol of the protest – a bloody handprint – appeared at demonstrations following the fire at a nightclub in Kocani on March 16, which killed 59 young people. “Girls of my generation died,” said Ema Peseva, a 20-year-old student from Skopje.
As in Serbia, protesters in Skopje chanted “Corruption kills” and accused the authorities of being “murderers”. “Everyone is bribed for trips, yachts and private schools, while kids are burned to death at concerts,” Peseva said. Milena Janevska, organizer of the protest, stressed the demand for “transparency from the institutions”. In Bulgaria, protesters commemorated the Kocani dead and compared the tragedy to the 2001 Indigo nightclub incident.
In Montenegro, protests inspired by the Serbian movement erupted after the Cetinje massacre on January 1, in which a man killed 13 people. Protesters have called for the removal of senior security officials, police reforms and better mental health services. “Serbian students are a true inspiration to all those frustrated by the high level of corruption,” said Aleksandar Popov, president of the Center for Regionalism.
Sofija Todorovic, director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, praised the leading role of young people, dispelling the stereotype of a generation “passive and too absorbed in their phones”. “Young people have shown more acumen, ability and wisdom than previous generations,” she said, stressing that today young people feel they “have a role in society and that their voices matter”, a crucial factor for the future of the region.
