They Came to Novi Sad with Tractors: We Will Form a Ring So Students Cannot Be Run Over by Cars

(Patria) - Police this morning prevented farmers from coming to Novi Sad to support students, but they managed to enter the city just before 11 a.m.

Goran Filipović, a representative of the Initiative for the Survival of Farmers of Serbia, told N1 that the farmers had negotiated with the Government of Serbia to allow them into Novi Sad to support the students. The government gave them permission, and today 17 tractors will arrive at the campus, with another 8 arriving tomorrow.

Tractors are parked on the campus.#NoviSad pic.twitter.com/2fdwssZygv

— Radio 021 (@Radio021) January 25, 2025

"We promised we would protect the students and secure them at intersections, to form a ring so that no one can hit any child in Serbia with a car," said Goran Filipović from Kisač for N1. "We couldn't get through normally via Rumenka; we were blocked. We lost an hour or two there. When we saw we couldn't go that way, we turned and went via Čenej and Klisa. There was fog; at one point we didn't even know where we were. We went through field roads, through mud. Eventually we reached the Temerin Bridge, where we encountered a gendarmerie cordon. At one point, they received orders to let us through to the faculty," said Filipović, as reported by Radio 021.

The farmers were joined by students, citizens, and the opposition. After some time, the police withdrew, and the crowd applauded them as they left.

Citizens in cars greet students who gathered near the campus to welcome the farmers.#NoviSad https://t.co/W6bLx0P1eZ pic.twitter.com/wyxOCYjvF4

— Radio 021 (@Radio021) January 25, 2025