Serbia's protesters take defiant message to president's rural strongholds

VRELO, Serbia — Protesters have criss-crossed Serbia on foot for weeks, taking their crusade against government corruption to the country's rural heartland in between holding massive rallies in its cities.

The student-led mass protests across Serbia have rocked the Balkan country ever since a roof cave-in killed 15 people at a train station in the city of Novi Sad in November.

The incident followed extensive renovations to the building in the northern city, igniting long-smouldering anger over corruption and spurring demands for greater government accountability.

The anti-corruption movement has piled ever increasing pressure on the government, spurring the resignation of several high-ranking officials, including Prime Minister Milos Vucevic earlier this year.

The movement has now fallen into a familiar pattern, with students announcing the name of a major city where they will hold a mass rally, followed by days of marching to the destination.

Ahead of Saturday's rally in southern Serbia's Nis, protesters walked along country roads where they were greeted by villagers with open arms.

'Something better' 

In the village of Vrelo on the outskirts of Nis, hundreds of students blowing whistles and vuvuzelas were welcomed by local residents with hugs and refreshments on Friday afternoon.

"I feel joyful and much younger when I see them," Svetlana Ilic, a 73-year-old local resident, told AFP.

"I hope the young people will create something new, something better," she said, while serving the students tea and bananas.

"My heart is full. I believe this government's time is coming to an end," added Slavoljub Denic, 61.

The ritual presents a potentially potent challenge to Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, who has long relied on support from the country's rural communities, as he weathered regular protests against his rule in the country's cities.

For over a decade, Vucic and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party have consistently swept rural constituencies and smaller cities, even as they faced more closely contested races in major urban areas, like Belgrade, Nis and Novi Sad.

"What the students do by passing through these cities is wake them up and free them from fear," Sanja Petrov, a journalist and analyst with the Centre for Contemporary Politics based in southern Serbia's Vranje, told AFP.

Urban-rural divide 

Smaller towns in Serbia have often relied on state-backed media outlets that follow Vucic's ruling party line -- including a narrative that the recent rash of protests has been organised by foreigners.

But talking to the students in person has been revelatory for many.

"People now see firsthand who these young people are and realise they are not paid agitators but their own children. Their presence is powerful, and you can see it on people's faces," said Petrov.

According to Lazar Stojanovic -- a 21-year-old student from the Faculty of Agriculture in Belgrade -- the marches are planned in order to hit areas of the country like its rural eastern farmlands that are off the beaten path for many from Serbia's cities.

"When we planned our route, we deliberately chose this part of the country. We believe this was the right decision and that we will help awaken these people," he told AFP in Vrelo.

The student's arrival in villages often has a festive air, with singing and folk dancing along with the chanting of political slogans to the sounds of brass bands and the waving of colourful road flares.

"It is a great honour that this large column of students, who are now making history in some way, passes through our village," Nenad Slavkovic, a resident of Luznica, told AFP as students trekked through his hometown en route to an earlier protest in Kragujevac.

His neighbour Titomir Martinovic agreed.

"I feel it is my duty to come and support this youth and their struggle," said Martinovic, as he passed out drinks to protesters.

"After all, we all want a better, fairer society and the rule of law, which we don't have now."