A group of people has been trying to prevent the demolition of the Old Sava Bridge for weeks. Why do they do that? What are their days like? What are their plans
Within reach Old Sava bridge, there has been a big tent for more than a month. Activists, citizens, some opposition politicians are camping there, in a word, all those who are expressly against the demolition of the bridge that has been bridging the Sava since 1942 and is one of the key links between old and New Belgrade. Right at the entrance kamp there is an improvised dining room - on a small table there are several boxes of small cakes, sandwiches from the bakery, fruit and a mini gas bottle for making coffee or tea. Then, a bag with a bunch of badges "The Bridge Remains" which most people who come here hardly ever take off. A colorful speaker is humming in the corner, a reggae song is playing. Several people are sitting on old office chairs. A high school girl from Karlovac High School also came. She arrived a day after her school organized a tribute to the deceased in Novi Sad. Then, as she recounts, unknown people approached them and started insulting them, verbally attacking them... When asked why she came, she said: "I don't want something that is a symbol of Belgrade to be demolished completely illegally."
The city government claims that the bridge is not safe and that a modern road will be built in its place. On the other hand, the opponents of its demolition point out that it is a non-transparent project, and that the bridge has historical significance for the city. They believe that it should be reconstructed, and one of the proposals is that it be intended only for public city transport, cyclists and pedestrians. The Belgrade authorities have announced the closure of the Old Sava Bridge and its dismantling four times so far, but activists, with protests and the support of citizens, postponed it.
"TAIWAN'S CANASTA" IN REAL LIFE
Former city councilor of the Zajedno party and civic activist Đorđe Miketić is one of the leaders of the "Most Remains" initiative. In an interview for "Vreme", he talks about all, as he calls them, the plagues of urbanization, carried out without a concrete plan, in which the main victims are the iconic buildings of Belgrade. He adds that the fight for the bridge has been going on for much longer, but the situation has culminated in the past month.
"The story about the defense of the bridge begins almost five years ago, when the demolition was announced for the first time. Back then, the fight was still fought through legal means. We had many petitions and signatures of citizens, appeals from public figures, open letters from professional organizations... We also held two professional public hearings to which we invited Goran Vesić and Aleksandar Šapić to discuss the bridge problem with experts. We wanted to see what alternatives exist for traffic in Belgrade in the event of a bridge collapse. Of course, they didn't show up," says Miketić. He also points out that a year and a half ago, Šapić promised them that the bridge would not be demolished until the tunnel from the Faculty of Economics to the Pancevac Bridge was built. However…
Recently, the authorities claim, there are no longer obstacles to demolishing the bridge. The Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure issued a permit for it, and on November 1 it was closed to traffic. The plan is to first carry out demanding works around the columns of the Old Bridge and on the access roads on both sides of the river before the distinctive green arch structure is removed and moved to a temporary construction site.
Still, activists are keeping the bridge alive. "First, they set June 1, then August 1, and finally November 1 as the starting date. When we saw that a serious plan was being prepared, we sent a letter to the Ministry of Construction not to issue a permit for the demolition of the bridge, nor its removal, because that would be illegal on many grounds. They turned a deaf ear to it. They began to close the bridge and then the second phase began - field defense of the bridge", says Miketić.
The activists decided on more radical measures and the opening of the camp on October 31. Since then, some say they have spent more time on the bridge than in their homes. They camped on the Old Belgrade side of the bridge, right next to the old bus station, which is now just a pile of ruins. Two symbols of Belgrade, just a few meters from each other - victims of reckless urbanization. There is still hope for the bridge, though.
About the atmosphere and how citizens spend long, cold days in the camp, Miketić says:
"I haven't seen such a point of real Belgrade charm, positivity and solidarity as this one in a long time. All people fondly remember Belgrade as it used to be, and we can see traces of that Belgrade in the camp on the bridge. People bring coffee, vanilla, donate things, we play movies and talk about everything. Indeed, in this microworld, the atmosphere is fantastic".
Dubravka Duca Marković, a retired television presenter, who recently attracted special public attention when she clashed with an Informer journalist on the water at a protest in Belgrade, also agrees with him. "The people who live on the bridge are like-minded, we are fighting for the same idea. All layers of society, all those who no longer trust anyone, saw a special energy here," she says.
The idea of the activists, adds Duca Marković, was to defend the bridge with human shields. Citizens were invited to this action on October 20, when the "Most Remains" initiative also organized a meeting on the plateau. The core of that group suddenly expanded.
"There are about twenty of us who form the backbone of the initiative, then about 70 volunteers who appear most often and have shifts on duty. One shift lasts four hours, and volunteers come on duty several times a week. There are passers-by who come for a couple of hours and visit us, bring us food, drinks and talk to us", explains Đorđe Miketić.
On Monday, a screening of the film "Taiwan Canasta" was held in the camp, and the director of this film, Goran Marković, came in front of the tent. The film takes place in Belgrade in the eighties of the last century and follows the life of an unemployed forty-year-old architect, who found himself at the center of a corruption scandal.
"We are living that movie today. Everyday injustices bother us. We believe in the revolution, but we live under a canopy, in a system of terrible corruption that is not only eating us as a society, but has also begun to kill us," says Miketić.
POLICE REPRESSION AND PEOPLE WITH HOODS
As he says, they have good communication with the police, when it comes to the public order and peace sector. These officials sometimes even come to the camp to warm themselves and serve tea. There are also those others, who stand in the cordon in uniform and with shields. There is no story with them.
"We have excellent cooperation with the public order and peace sector, because they make sure that no injury or property is damaged. That doesn't happen in our country - we have never made a single protest wanting a conflict, either with other citizens or with the police. We do not damage anyone's property. However, there are other squadrons of police, such as the Turtles. During one night, 200 of them came and ran over our tent on the New Belgrade side. There are various policemen under different jurisdictions," claims Miketić.
The incident he is talking about happened in the early morning hours of November 24. "At the time of tearing down the tent, we had already kept the bridge open for about twenty days, thus extending its lifespan. People thanked us for that, both ambulance drivers and taxi drivers, and spider drivers and city cleaners. One night, they came around 4 in the morning and built a bank on the old town side. We understood that the bridge was blocked so that machines could come from the New Belgrade side to remove the asphalt and rails from the bridge, as the beginning of the demolition. It was an illegal act. They called the police to protect the illegal demolition of the bridge by a private company", explains our interlocutor.
Then, when there were less than 10 people in the tent, including MP Branko Miljuš, the police entered the tent. "They told Miljuš that for every minute that he stays there, they will arrest one activist. "They practically blackmailed him and then they pushed us out of there, and 200 of them trampled everything we set up with their cobblestones," emphasizes Miketić.
And then, somewhere around six in the morning, the landing of activists on the bridge begins. Realizing what was happening, the citizens, together with several opposition MPs, came to the bridge via, as Miketić describes them, alternative routes.
The police then calmed down, but they formed a kind of cordon. The citizens stood there the whole day, brought two new tents, people began to gather en masse... MPs Marinika Tepić and Mila Popović made their way to the New Belgrade side of the bridge.
The rest of the day was calm - a real calm before the storm, considering that four days later, during the protest in Belgrade, there was a conflict on the water between demonstrators and some people wearing hoods. One of them was carrying a knife, and thanks to social networks, he was quickly identified. It is suspected that SNS officials and councilors were present at the protest, but this time in a different role.
Jelena Radović, one of the activists, states that the initiative "The Bridge Remains" will also file criminal charges against these persons.
"We are planning a third blockade at the corner of Woodrow Wilson and Nikolaj Kravtsov. After the riots at the last protest, the persons who behaved violently towards citizens and activists were identified. It would be bad if the incident happened again. We are preparing petitions for the Prosecutor's Office to initiate proceedings and acts that could be charged against them. If nothing else, at least misdemeanor charges for causing disorder and violating security", explains Jelena Radović.
BELGRADE ON THE WATER VS. WHITE CITY
During this time, the traffic jams became unbearable; the mayor of Belgrade calls the bridge fascist, is busy painting buses in "Nemanjić" blue and canceling the timetable. He does not say whether the demolition of the bridge is legal.
"It is horrible and criminal towards this city and the generations that built it. Belgrade does not have an urban plan, that is, a legal document that should present the standards and priorities of the city. Is the priority traffic or, say, the preservation of some buildings. Instead, we have a profit-driven policy of a regime that creates a city within a city and thus dictates the rest of the development (or collapse) of Belgrade", Jelena Radović believes.
Citizens don't ask anything, and the capital is no longer measured by people but profit, adds Miketić. And he reminds: Belgrade on the Water is planning to expand on the New Belgrade side, and plans are also in place to demolish the Fair and build it on the site of the Staro sajmište camp. And not in any planning document, nor in the urban plan, nor in the special purpose plan for Belgrade on the water, does it state the demolition of the bridge.
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