site.btaForeign Ministry Advises People to Avoid Travelling to Protest-Torn Serbia March 15-16

Bulgarian citizens and road hauliers are advised to avoid travelling to Serbia over the weekend, March 15-16, unless absolutely necessary, until public protests are over, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry says on its website.

Another large rally is expected in Belgrade on Saturday, the advisory says. Mobile communications may be interrupted, many public services, including emergency medical care, may be disrupted, and major traffic congestion is possible at various points.

Serbian students plan a large protest in Belgrade. Last Saturday, President Aleksandar Vucic said the opposition is expected to foment violence in the city.

Students in Serbia have been staging protests in various cities for four months now, demanding that those culpable for the death of 15 people in last November's collapse of the canopy of the Novi Sad railway station should be held to account. The students have held blockades and demonstrations demanding that the whole documentation on the renovation of the Novi Sad railway station should be published to make it possible to identify the culprits for the tragedy. They want counter-protesters to face charges and the trials against arrested demonstrators to be dropped.

The government says that all demands of the protesters have been met, but the students say there is more to be done.