A group of around 150 Serbs from Kosovo embarked on a 250-kilometre journey to Belgrade this week to show their support for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his new Movement for the People and State.

The pro-government march, set to culminate in a large pro-government rally in the capital on April 12, is a reaction to months of anti-government protests following the fatal collapse of a canopy roof at Novi Sad train station on November 1, 2024.

The marchers have received warm welcomes in towns along their route. On April 7, thousands of people gathered in Kraljevo, waving Serbian flags and playing traditional music. Children in traditional costumes offered the marchers bread and salt, a time-honoured symbol of Serbian hospitality.

This is not the first time Serbs from Kosovo have undertaken such a symbolic gesture. Similar marches were organised in 2019 and 2023, with Kosovo Serbs travelling to Belgrade to demonstrate solidarity with the Serbian government.

Serbs from Kosovo’s north tend to be more nationalistic than their compatriots and supportive of the government in Belgrade, which they look to and rely upon to defend their rights in Kosovo.

Recent moves by Pristina to force the integration of the Serb minority has further radicalised parts of the Serb minority in Kosovo, which believes its rights and autonomy are gradually being stripped away by a government it does not recognise.

Meanwhile, another group of young supporters from Novi Sad set out for Belgrade, claiming they represent a silent majority in support of the government. They were welcomed by residents of Indjija on April 8 with the same symbolic offerings of bread and salt.

Vucic, who has portrayed the protests against his government as part of a wider destabilisation effort, is hoping to rally 200,000 supporters in Belgrade on April 12.

In an Instagram post on April 8, the president called on “workers, peasants, householders, housewives, pensioners and youth” to join the rally to defend Serbia, framing anti-government protests as an attempt by internal and external forces to undermine the country’s stability.

According to independent media, the government has been busy organising buses to Belgrade from nearby towns and villages and pressuring public sector employees to attend the event to ensure the turnout does not disappoint. 

Serbs are marching in different directions

While pro-government Serbs march to the capital Belgrade, a group of 80 students are cycling in the other direction to Strasbourg, to demand EU support for the ongoing protests against the government.

For over four months, Serbian students have forced the closure of almost all universities in the country and rallied large crowds in their support. They are protesting government corruption, which they believe is endemic in Serbia. 

The protests have since garnered support from all sections of society who oppose the government. Disparate groups, without much in common, are calling for systemic change.

The largest protest took place on March 15 in the capital Belgrade, when close to half a million people flooded the streets – it was the biggest protest in the nation’s history.

The students and their supporters have so far been disappointed by the EU’s lukewarm response to their protests, and those cycling to Strasbourg hope to gain greater support for their cause. 

The students began their 1,300-kilometre journey on April 3 and aim to reach Strasbourg by April 15 or 16, where they will present their concerns to European officials. Along the way, they have received jubilant welcomes by the Serbian diaspora in cities such as Bratislava and Vienna.

They plan to submit letters to both the Council of Europe and the European Parliament, urging European leaders to take action regarding the current situation in Serbia. 

Protesters in Serbia have been frustrated by the EU's apparent support for Vucic. The EU has continued to dispatch its top representatives to Belgrade to hold friendly meetings with Vucic (most recently European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen).

When the Director-General of the EU's enlargement negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman, came to visit in January, he praised the progress Serbia has made under Vucic and declared on X that Serbia was on the right track towards EU membership.

“Officials from the US, and both the EU and Russia, support President Vucic’s policy, and thus do not even try to focus on the student protests in Serbia,” Dana Popović, a Serbian economist and columnist, told bne IntelliNews after Koopman’s tone deaf visit.

To the students fighting against corruption in Serbia, there is a glaring hypocrisy in the EU’s espousal of the rule of law and democracy while it continues to do business with Vucic.

How the protesters believe the EU should intervene is another matter. Any form of intervention would likely be met with accusations of Western meddling, which has never been well-received by Serbs.