Several thousand activists from across Serbia joined student protests in the country’s southwest on Sunday, rallying against what they describe as government pressure on state universities.

The demonstration, part of a wider movement confronting political interference in higher education, was the first of its kind in Novi Pazar, a town with a majority Bosniak Muslim population.

It is among many protests organised after the collapse of a railway station roof last year in the northern city of Novi Sad, which killed 16 people … [The station’s modernization was a symbol of Serbia’s growing cooperation with China. Completed in the summer of 2024, the $1.5 billion project – funded through a loan agreement between the Serbian government, China’s Exim Bank, and the Russian government under the China-CEEC cooperation framework – but had come to symbolize systemic issues of corruption, secrecy, and a lack of accountability.]

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Throughout the day-long protest, participants observed a moment of silence for the victims of the roof collapse. They waved flags representing their towns and universities, whistled, and chanted their signature slogan: “Pump up!”

The protest movement - led by students, academics, and opposition figures - accuses Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his populist nationalist party of fostering corruption, poor public services, nepotism, and restrictions on media freedom. Vucic and his party deny the allegations.

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