"The levers of power are not in their hands," said Bishop Grigorije. "But there is something in the Holy Scriptures that I like very much, and that is that the power of God is revealed in weakness. So, all worldly power is on one side. And on the other side, in the hands of these young men and women is the weakness of this world. But in their weakness, the power of God or God's justice appears. That is why they are at such a great advantage."
While student cyclists unstoppably fulfill their mission by winning stage after stage on the road to Strasbourg, Serbia has not stopped boiling since the fall of the canopy. Two Serbias and two events that continue to depict the antagonism that is deepening day by day.
A three-day meeting of the Movement for the People and the State was held in Belgrade, under the slogan "We will not give up Serbia." The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, estimated that this meeting will largely determine the political scene in the coming period and the way of life of the people. A supporter at the rally, when asked what exactly the slogan "We will not give Serbia" means, could not explain, but Vučić did: "Serbians do not give their country to anyone - and they will never allow it to be destroyed."
The president again copies and takes over concepts, programs and strategies from his opponents, which in practice, in the case of a significant part of public opinion, proved to be transient or, even better, successful. Thus, at one time, he took over the opposition's determination and program on the integration of Serbia into the EU, so he made his "Impression of the Week", and now he tried to imitate the students with a national assembly in front of the Assembly of Serbia, as well as by marching Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija. Vučić wanted his support to at least resemble Belgrade on March 15, because the basic assumption is that he knew there was no trick that would help him surpass it.
And what did Belgrade look like during its three-day event? Fences, tents, plastic chairs, free burgers, in a word - it was a fair in the center of the city; filled in every sense with impoverished people from various parts of Serbia, blackmailed, paid, tired, but there were also students who want to learn, and those who are scared and still believe that Vučić is the only salvation for Serbia. One thing is certain: estimates of the number of collected extras, even the most generous ones, did not even come close to satisfying Vučić's expectations. Be that as it may, the regime announces the end of all divisions despite the fact that with this gathering it physically separated its own and others.
It was the first day of the fair event, and the pro-regime newspaper "Novosti" wrote: "While in Belgrade the largest flag in the history of Serbia was unfurled at the national assembly, in Novi Pazar, at the reception of student blockaders, Sandžak flags were unfurled, alluding to the secession of that part of Serbia." The problem with this Vučić media spin is that there is no Sandžak flag. Namely, the flag with three lilies and three crescents is a symbol of Bosniaks in Serbia. To make the absurdity even greater, that flag is also flying on the building of the Municipality of Novi Pazar, where the government consists of the Sandžačka Democratic Party, SNS, SPS and SRS.
The star of the fun part of the program is Baja Mali Knindza. On April 12, the president appeared, he gave a speech in which he mixed reconciliation, motivational messages and the need for key decisions as Serbia wants to move forward by 2035. He focuses on five demands, addresses the institutions of this country, with an emphasis on the prosecution. If the claims were taken out of context, they do not seem unusual, however, put back into a real context, they are par excellence an example of reality inversion. Here's what Vučić says in one of them: "We especially demand that full respect for the constitution and laws be established, that the security of the Republic of Serbia and its citizens be ensured and that the institutions that were hijacked be returned to the citizens as bearers of national sovereignty, including the public media service of Serbia, which is one of the key participants in the color revolution." Vučić's demands are a perverse counterpart to the students' demands, they contain the potential for repression, and unscrupulous announcements are already coming from the "new" Ministry of Education.
In fact, the nightmarish construct of sowing hatred generated by the radicals and the SPS has been going on for 35 years. They sowed ethnic hatred within the borders of the dissolved Yugoslavia, and then, returning to power in 2012, they gradually, and intensified in the last ten years, sowed hatred and division among "their own", among the citizens of the rest of Serbia, treating it more and more obviously as a personal, mafia-organized property.
On the other hand, the students invited Serbia to gather in Novi Pazar. On Friday evening, April 11, the hosts, famous for their hospitality, welcomed the guests, and before Saturday's protest, by releasing a dove, they symbolically sent a message about the values they sincerely stand behind. The next day, you could feel it at every step, in every corner, even on your skin - the desire and willingness to live peace, love, tolerance, solidarity. Students from all over Serbia, together with their colleagues from this city burdened by the burden of war, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, continued to successfully integrate Bosniaks from Sandžak into equal participants in the rebellion that aims for a fairer and better Serbia. On April 12, Novi Pazar really was the capital of Serbia. And that is the dichotomy in the image of today's Serbia: on one side fenced-off people who cannot leave the meeting until Vučić finishes his speech, on the other side the warmth of Novi Pazar and its courageous arm embodied in student cyclists.
Our Alexa, a student cyclist, arrived in Munich with the team; sends us a report:
photo: lenka pavlović...
SIXTH DAY
"The sixth day passed more peacefully, with a shorter section and good weather. The day marked the arrival of David Martel, an Italian pianist who was deported from Serbia by the police in Niš; he came to support us with a piano on a bicycle, symbolically combining art and protest. David plans to join us on the last kilometer before Strasbourg, and where we are greeted he will play a song he is still rehearsing - This is Serbia.
Assistants from ETF also came to visit us, bringing the faculty flag and supporting students.
Night fell, we were placed in capsules with a common area - an opportunity to rest and socialize. The morale of the team is high, and tomorrow we continue to Linz."
SEVENTH DAY
"As we move on, time seems to flow faster. Upon arrival in Linz, we were welcomed as if we were born - we received t-shirts as a gift, we were served and a massage for our tired legs - everything was there.
Due to a small error in the schedule, some of us were not registered for accommodation, but we were kindly hosted by the student wardens from Linz.
We used the evening for a night tour of the city and hanging out with students from Serbia who are studying in Linz."
EIGHTH DAY
"This day brought us new challenges, the headwind was replaced by steep uphills.
However, all that effort was worth it when we arrived in Salzburg where we were greeted by a large crowd. Their support and warm welcome made this day special.
After a tiring day, we spend the night in a hotel kindly paid for by our diaspora host.
By the way, a student of Serbian origin accompanied us from Salzburg, he was born in Switzerland, and is now a student at the University of Munich. He went ahead of us to meet us wherever we took a break."
photo: lenka pavlović...
NINTH DAY
"It was a long and tiring day - 131 kilometers and even more uphill. I was met in Munich by a friend from high school who is now studying in Germany, and he decided to join the ride.
Arriving at the church marked the end of the day, and Bishop Grigori's speech was a strong message of solidarity and perseverance."
"These are the levers of power," said the bishop. "The levers of power are not in their hands. But there is something in the Holy Scriptures that I like very much, and that is that the power of God is revealed in weakness. So, all the power of this world is on one side. And on the other side, in the hands of these young men and women is the weakness of this world. But in their weakness, the power of God or God's justice appears. That is why they are at such a great advantage."
Student cyclists go further, Alexa sends a report:
"Ulm. From Munich to Ulm was the longest route - 160 kilometers. There, European officials used us a little for political purposes; to promote the EU and their mayors. Other than that, it was nice."
"In Stuttgart, a German gave us business space to sleep in. They also rented us a swimming pool. It seems to me that the organization in Stuttgart was the best."
"Karlsruhe. There were unexpectedly many people. First we were hosted in a church, then our well-organized hosts directed us to accommodations. It turned out that my host was from the same place as my father - from Ruma."
We asked Aleksa what he expects from Strasbourg. "I don't know what I expect, and maybe what we will achieve here, or not, is not so important," he said, then added: "I think it is much more important that we, the students, do not burn ourselves out at home, in our pursuit of justice."
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The students' decision to submit a request to the regime for the dissolution of the state parliament and the calling of extraordinary republican elections did not fall from Mars. This option has been vigorously discussed at plenums for a long time, and the matter was cut short when it became clear to everyone, but absolutely everyone, that the government not only does not want to fulfill the students' demands, but responds to the political crisis with ever stronger repression and increasingly dirty propaganda. And when no one could dispute the fact that the regime is the generator of all social and political anomalies, and that thanks to it the Novi Sad canopy hangs over the head of every citizen of this country
What is the interest among the highest university workers for direct participation in politics, on the "student list", if extraordinary parliamentary elections were called in Serbia
The call for elections is a call to the regime, and it remains to be seen whether there will also be a student call to everyone else for a social agreement on how to oppose the regime in future elections. They can be announced unexpectedly quickly, and may not be there before some "regular appointment" unless there is extremely strong pressure on the street.
Maybe the correct version is that Aleksandar Vučić got sick and that's why he returned to the country. But the whole thing still leaves a lot of open questions. To begin with, why did the president of our country go to a donor evening intended for the internal political goals of another country? Why did he go to an event where you can't get in unless you donate money? And who called him? If this soap opera is seen as an isolated event, outside of the domestic context, it really is something that escapes common sense.
Without understanding the evil that has been done in our immediate history in the last three, four decades, it would be partial and hypocritical. It's too late for what happened six months ago, everything now is compensation. If we do not come to a serious confrontation with the past, with a strong program of creating a non-violent society, the changes will have a short life. And in that change, the parents of the murdered children could be ambassadors of the normalization process of this society. They are ready for that role and it would be good if the students also included them in their debates, to understand what happened and what are the ways of coping
The knee-jerk Supreme Being trusts in the local elections in Kosjerić and Zaječar. It must not be forgotten that for 13 years he poured heavy poisons, especially in the province, and that detoxification is a long and painful process.
If the various opponents of Vučić's regime are unable to help the student youth, they could at least not retaliate. They have been working the same way and with the same disastrous results for too long to expect anyone to ask them anything
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