Serbia paralyzed by massive protests sparked by train station tragedy

Serbia's capital Belgrade is gripped this weekend with a wave of protests, sparked by a tragedy from November last year when a train station's canopy fell in the town of Novi Sad killing 15 people. 

Students from the entire country are accusing the authorities that their corruption led to the disaster. Ever since, state-owned universities and most of the schools across Serbia have been on strike. 

Most of the students and their professors demand that those responsible for the disaster be brought to justice. On Friday evening, thousands of students from the University of Novi Sad entered Belgrade on foot. 

They walked for two days in defiance of the authorities urging them not to come to the Belgrade protests. Thousands of locals have hit the streets to greet them, with traffic police keeping a close eye on proceedings.

Yet the authorities say there's a high risk of violence on the streets on Saturday evening, when the biggest protests are scheduled. Students say they aren't instigating the violence. Student Ivan Vladimir was among those who walked from Novi Sad.

"These were and these are peaceful protests. We are not calling for any violence, as we never have so far. And we are not afraid," he said.

Many in the Serbian ruling establishment claim the students' protests are just a smoke screen for a so-called colored revolution in Serbia. They warn that any violence will be swiftly crushed.

"It is only our people who will govern the country through democratic elections,” Nemanja Starović, Minister for Labor, Employment, Veteran, and Social Affairs, told CGTN Europe.

"It will not be the crowd in the streets and definitely not extremist political groups who are ready to use violence to advance their political cause."

Tense provocations

But the tensions are present, particularly in Belgrade's city center, where local citizens joined students. 

In front of the Serbian presidency building, the government supporters erected a makeshift camp a few days ago. Then hundreds of tractors were placed around that camp on Thursday evening to reduce the contact between the two opposing sides. 

The riot police are also present, preventing any contact between the two groups. Yet the provocations from both sides do happen. 

We have seen one man yelling at police because he thinks they defend the government, while a girl demanded an apology from the government supporters who are in the camp. 

In the meantime, the protesters deflated almost all the tractor tires. Tensions are increasingly running high.