Luxembourg protests against corruption in Serbia

What you want: to draw European attention to corruption in your country. On Saturday afternoon, shortly after 4 p.m., 21 Serbian students crossed the red carpet, which was designed in front of the statue of the Grand Duchess Charlotte at the Place Clair Telefanaine in Luxembourg City.

They were received by the Serbian community in Luxembourg with applause and trill pipes. According to the organizers, around 300 people were present. « Welcome to the city of Luxembourg », Mayor Lydie Polfer (DP) welcomed the state guests in English.

Since April 25, they have left the Serbian city of Novi Sad, in which 15 people died in the collapse of a station vordach last November. The disaster had triggered a large wave of protest against the responsible politicians, which is supported by the country’s students.

Fight for justice and a better future

After a bike tour through Europethis time Serbian students had planned to walk from Novi Sad to Brussels. For this relay ultramarathon « Track to Brussels » you cover a distance of 1,950 kilometers, this for 18 days by eight European countries.

Your goal is to arrive at the European Parliament and the European Commission in Brussels on Monday. On the way they also stopped in Strasbourg. « Luxembourg is a three European capacity.

Marko takes part in this European tour. « We are fighting justice and a better future. Corruption is the cause of everything that happens, » explains the 23-year-old student.

« The students call for more transparency, less corruption and cleaning up the voter lists, on which deceased people are also recorded, which can manipulate elections, » said Marija Bjekovic-Obradovic, board member of the Serbian culture in Luxembourg. She has been living in Luxembourg for 18 years.

She emphasizes that the students expect more pressure and a clear message from Europe. The students can count on the Serbian community on all stages. They also stayed with Serbian families in Luxembourg on Saturday evening. In total, they are around 60 people: their team, the drivers who accompany them, as well as the team of doctors.

The green deputy Meris Sehovic also took part in the demonstration on Saturday. He gave a speech in English with some passages in Serbian. « As a member of the parliament here in Luxembourg and as a European with Serbian and Luxembourg roots, I am proud to stand here today, » said the politician, born in Belgrade.

The protest from Serbia for the rule of law, transparency, free media and democracy must be heard by politicians across Europe, says Sehovic. In his speech, the green emphasized that « European values ​​apply not only to the EU member states, but also to everyone who lives after them ». Then he promised: « Europe sees them. Serbia needs them. And we stand by them! »

« What happens in Serbia affects all of us because we have relatives there, » emphasized Marija Bjeković-Obradović. According to Statec, 1,824 Serbs lived in Luxembourg on January 1, 2024. The Serbian community follows the events in its home country with great attention. On February 8th and March 2 in Luxembourg, demonstrations were held to support the wave of protest in Serbia.

On Sunday morning, the students left Luxembourg to continue their trip to Liège to arrive in Brussels the following day. There they want to deliver their “sincere demand for European solidarity, institutional accountability and global recognition of the in -depth authoritarian change in Serbia”, as it says in their press release.

« We will meet MEPs there and give them a letter, » said Marko. They want to stay in the European capital by Thursday.