Hundreds of students marched through Serbian villages on Friday as they take their anti-corruption protest from Belgrade to the northern city of Novi Sad, where they plan to block three bridges over the Danube River this weekend.
The bridge blockade planned for Saturday will mark three months since a concrete roof at a railway station in Novi Sad collapsed on November 1, leaving 15 dead.
What began two months ago as a protest against suspected corruption in construction contracts has turned into the most serious challenge in years for the country's powerful populist leader, President Aleksandar Vučić.
Meanwhile in Belgrade, a driver crashed his car into a protest on Friday, injuring two women who work as doctors at a nearby psychiatric facility. Media reports say both fell headfirst to the pavement and are receiving treatment.
The incident, the third of its kind in weeks, occurred in central Belgrade during the 15-minute silence now observed daily across Serbia, at the same time as the roof collapse in Novi Sad.
A witness, Dr. Elena Matkovic, told N1 television that the driver initially reversed his car and the protesters thought he was going to drive away from them, but instead he rushed forward, crashing into people.
"We didn't expect him to ram his car into a crowd of people," she told N1. "If you ask me if we're going to stop (the protest), of course we're not going to. This is not the time to stop."
Protesters have faced repeated attacks, with drivers running over demonstrators with cars on two previous occasions. Two people were seriously injured.
On their way to Novi Sad on Friday, the students were greeted by cheering citizens, who honked their car horns or came out of their homes to offer them food and drinks.
Hundreds more people on bicycles set off separately towards Novi Sad on Friday, while Belgrade taxi drivers offered to take the marchers home on Sunday.
When the students arrived in the town of Inxija on Thursday, roughly halfway through their 80-kilometer journey, they were greeted with fireworks and cheers from residents.
While most of them spent the night outside on a football pitch, the cold temperatures did not dampen their desire for major changes in the Balkan state mired in corruption.
Nevena Vecerinac, a student, said she hopes that the protesters' demands, which include the punishment of all those responsible for the tragedy with the collapse of the roof at the railway station, will be met.
"We will reach Novi Sad," she said. "Yesterday's march was easy. It's cold now, but we can do it. We all have the same goal."
Many in Serbia believe the roof collapse was caused by government corruption in a major infrastructure project with Chinese state-owned companies. Critics believe bribery was to blame for the slow pace of work on the railway station's reconstruction, with poor supervision and a disregard for existing safety regulations.
Months of demonstrations have already forced the resignation of Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević this week, along with various concessions from the authorities that have been ignored by protesters who say they are not enough.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and other officials have moved from accusing students of working with foreign powers to remove him from power to offering concessions to the students. All the while, they continue to make veiled threats against them, saying that “the patience of his supporters is running out.”
He said on Friday that "it is clear that the country is under attack both from outside and from within."
"We will know how to fight, we will be flexible, we will seek conversation and dialogue (with the protesters), but we will know how to save the country," he added.
The strength and determination of the protesters have taken many by surprise in a country from which hundreds of thousands of young people have emigrated, seeking opportunities elsewhere. /VOA (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
