Striking university students in Serbia were greeted with gifts and warmth on Friday as they marched toward a central town ahead of a big rally this weekend, part of a months-long demonstration against corruption in the Balkan country.
Locals at the central Serbian village of Luznice set up stalls filled with homemade delicacies, roast pork and other refreshments as they waited for the students to arrive.
“We are here to support all young people, our friends,” said Ivan Karic. "We want changes. That’s it. We don’t want lies any more.”
University students have been at the forefront of massive anti-graft protests in Serbia in the wake of a fatal collapse of a concrete canopy at a train station in the northern city of Novi Sad in November that killed 15 people.
Many in Serbia blame the crash on government corruption during renovation work on the station building. Almost daily street protests since Nov. 1 have rattled the populist President Aleksandar Vucic's firm grip on power.
“The majority of people in Serbia support the students’ requests,” said Stevan Lazic, another resident of Luzice who came out to greet the marching crowd.
The students' determination, youth and creativity have struck a cord among ordinary people who are widely disillusioned with politicians and have lost faith that substantial changes are possible in the country.
Among the students' demands are full disclosure regarding the canopy collapse and punishment for attackers on protesters in the past weeks.
The rally in Kragujevac, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital Belgrade, is expected to draw tens of thousands of people on Saturday for a gathering that also marks the national Statehood Day.
Waving Serbian flags, the students were heading to Kragujevac from various directions while some also ran or cycled.
The students chose the date and the town, which in 1835 was where Serbia, still under Ottoman rule at the time, declared a constitution that aimed to limit the powers of its rulers.
Vucic plans a parallel rally with his supporters in Sremska Mitrovica, a small town northwest of Belgrade. He has announced a declaration against an alleged separatist movement threatening Serbia's unity.
In the past three months, the president has shifted from accusing the students of working for foreign powers to offering concessions and claiming he has fulfilled each of their demands.
Vucic has said he wants Serbia to join the European Union but he has faced accusations of rampant government corruption and stifling of democratic freedoms while in power.
