Hundreds of taxi drivers are returning Serbian students from Kragujevac

(Patria) - Hundreds of taxi drivers from Belgrade, Niš, and Pančevo, along with their Kragujevac colleagues, are returning students on Sunday who walked 130 to 150 kilometers in a three-day march on Friday to participate in the "Let's Meet on Sretenje" rally in Kragujevac on the occasion of Serbia's Statehood Day.

Long columns of taxi drivers were seen off by the people of Kragujevac in lines, throwing flower petals and chanting “Students, students,” and they are also being greeted by residents of the villages along the way.

More than 800 taxi drivers from all taxi associations arrived in Kragujevac at noon from Belgrade alone, joined by colleagues from Niš and Pančevo, and Kragujevac taxi drivers transported students to the highway for pick-up.

This is the second solidarity action and support for students after more than 670 taxi drivers returned students from Novi Sad after a march to a rally on February 1st, where tens of thousands of people, led by students, marked three months since the death of 15 people in the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station.

A wave of protests in Serbia, triggered by the tragedy in Novi Sad, has grown into a student movement and an almost three-month blockade of more than 60 faculties in four state university centers.

Students demand accountability from the authorities for the accident in Novi Sad, the exposure of corruption at the state level, and the effective functioning of institutions without political influence, and they are receiving increasing support from citizens, public figures, educators, farmers, trade unions, cultural workers, and others every day.

At the same time, state leaders – starting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić – accuse them of being foreign mercenaries trying to carry out a “color revolution” and overthrow the government without elections.

Vučić, at a rally of his supporters in Sremska Mitrovica on Saturday, assessed that the student protests would last for a few more weeks. He euphorically stated that he had defeated the “color revolution” and that he would write a textbook about it, a “bestseller” that would sell millions of copies worldwide.

After the rally in Kragujevac, students are announcing new actions, and the next major rally is planned in Niš, but there are no further details at this time.

The students' message is that after Niš, they will continue the protests in Belgrade and “pump until it bursts.”