Students participating in the blockade of higher education institutions across Serbia have announced a protest to be held in Belgrade on Saturday, October 11, in solidarity with Serbs in Kosovo.
The gathering is set to begin at 2 p.m. in front of the Faculty of Law on Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra. From there, participants will march to the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, located in the Palace of Serbia in New Belgrade.
In their announcement, the students — known as Students in Blockade — said they are aware that Serbs in Kosovo have been “left without support or assistance from the current authorities,” who, they claim, ignore the fact that helping Serbs in Kosovo is both a “moral and legal obligation.”
Except when their suffering is used for media or electoral propaganda, they added.
The organizers said the protest aims to draw attention to the daily hardships and what they describe as ‘repression’ in Kosovo, and to show that, in their words, “silence in the face of injustice is not an option.”
“We, the Students in Blockade, who advocate for a just state and respect for the Constitution, feel obliged to remind the public that the University of Pristina is part of our university system. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues and will work together to break the media blackout,” the group stated.
They concluded by inviting all citizens to join the protest.
The protest is taking place just one day before the upcoming local elections in Kosovo.
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Vučić to Hold His Own Protest
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has announced that he, too, will join a protest on Saturday — a march “for the Serbs in Kosovo,” but on the opposite side.
Earlier this week, Vučić said that a gathering in support of Serbs would take place on Saturday, organized by the “Center for Social Stability” — an organization that has only recently begun appearing in his public statements.
Yesterday, he reiterated the announcement, saying that the rallies organized by this center “will not be only about blockades,” but also about “support for our people in Kosovo and Metohija.”
In promoting the event, Vučić drew a confrontational link between the issue of Kosovo Serbs and the ongoing student and citizen protests and blockades.
“People will come out to show support for our people, and of course, against violence and blockades,” Vučić said.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
