World
Serbian university students stage 24-hour blockade in Belgrade
Thousands of citizens joined the blockade that followed weeks of protests demanding accountability of the deadly accident in the northern city of Novi Sad that critics have blamed on rampant government corruption.
Striking university students in Serbia’s have launched a 24-hour blockade of a key traffic intersection in the capital, Belgrade, stepping up pressure on the populist authorities over a deadly canopy collapse in November that killed 15 people.
A campaign of street demonstrations has posed the biggest challenge in years to the populist government’s firm grip on power in Serbia.
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić at a joint press conference on Monday with Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić, urged dialogue with the students, saying that “we need to lower the tensions and start talking to each other.”
Students in the past have refused to meet with Vučić, saying the president is not entitled by the constitution to hold talks with them.
“Any kind of a crisis poses a serious problem for our economy,” said Vučić. “Such a situation in society is not good for anyone.”
Vučić has faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms despite formally seeking European Union membership for Serbia. He has accused the students of working for unspecified foreign powers to oust the government.
Vučić has, however, said he is willing to pardon those who want to avoid criminal prosecution.
Commenting on the demands, which include the dismissal of charges against those arrested and detained during protests, Vučić said: “We waited for the prosecutor’s office to dismiss some of the criminal charges, as there is reasonable suspicion they committed crimes. If there is no other solution, I am ready to sign a pardon for those who want it, in accordance with the law. I will do this by Wednesday at the latest.”
In a public address from the Palace of Serbia, the president said that public prosecutors’ offices have initiated criminal proceedings against 37 people for attacks on students and professors, noting that this fulfils the students’ second demand.
In addition, Vučić said that all documents related to the recent reconstruction of the Novi Sad main train station have been released.
Several incidents have marked the street demonstrations in the past weeks, including drivers ramming into the crowds, when two young women were injured.
Traffic police on Monday secured the student blockade to help avoid any similar incidents. Protesting students set up tents at the protest site, which is a key artery for the city commuters and toward the main north-south motorway.
Some students played volleyball, others sat down on blankets on the pavement or walked around on a warm day. The students also held a daily 15-minute commemoration silence at 11:52am, the exact same time when the canopy at a train station in Novi Sad crashed down on 1 November.
Many in Serbia believe the huge concrete canopy fell down because of poor reconstruction work that resulted from corruption.
Serbia’s prosecutors have filed charges against 13 people, including a government minister and several state officials. But the former construction minister Goran Vesić has been released from detention, fuelling doubts over the investigation’s independence.
ADVERTISEMENTThe main railway station in Novi Sad was renovated twice in recent years as part of a wider infrastructure deal with Chinese state companies.
new video loaded: W.H.O. Chief Visits Ebola-Struck Region: ‘It’s Time to Move Fast’
transcript
transcript
W.H.O. Chief Visits Ebola-Struck Region: ‘It’s Time to Move Fast’
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, told The New York Times on a flight to the Democratic Republic of Congo that swift international support was necessary to contain the Ebola virus, which is spreading rapidly there.
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“Of course there are different scenarios, but it’s in our hands. We move fast, we will catch up. If we don’t, it will be a very serious problem. So it’s time to really move fast.” A dire warning from the World Health Organization chief as we approach Ituri, the province at the center of Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak. More than 1,000 suspected Ebola cases and over 200 suspected deaths have been reported here. With no vaccines and no treatment for the virus species fueling the outbreak, containment is where immediate efforts should focus, health officials say. It’s not easy. Testing capacity is still very low. Protective supplies are short. Both the facilities for isolation and the region’s overall health care infrastructure are insufficient. “We cannot tell them what the problem is, Ebola is one but there are many problems and we have to listen to them.” It’s not the first Ebola outbreak for Congo, and as a glimmer of hope, officials say at least one health care worker was discharged earlier this week after recovering. But international commitments to fund their response aren’t enough. Only one-third of the needed funds have been delivered, the W.H.O. chief says. “Do you think the world is moving fast enough right now?” “It’s starting to understand now, but I still don’t think it’s enough.”
By Bethlehem Feleke, Michael Anthony Adams and Alisa Shodiyev Kaff
May 30, 2026
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Russia and the Taliban government in Afghanistan have signed a military cooperation pact, cementing an alliance that further solidifies Moscow’s influence in Central Asia, according to reports.
The deal, finalized Wednesday at an international security forum in Russia, followed a meeting between Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob.
The Taliban Defense Ministry announced on X that Yaqoob had traveled to Russia to attend the conference.
Yaqoob is the Taliban’s former military chief and the son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar.
AL QAEDA REMAINS MOST DANGEROUS TERRORIST GROUP 24 YEARS AFTER 9/11, EXPERT WARNS
Russia and the Taliban government in Afghanistan have signed a new military-technical cooperation pact, cementing an alliance that solidifies Moscow’s influence in Central Asia. (Photo by Elke Scholiers / Getty Images)
Omar had formed a close alliance with Osama bin Laden and provided a safe haven from which al Qaeda planned the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
As of Thursday, neither Russia nor the Afghan side had shared the further details of the new military agreement.
“Afghanistan and Russia have long and historical relations. In this direction, we want to move further. We have expanded bilateral relations,” Yaqoob said at the meeting.
The pact follows statements from a senior Russian security official who noted that Moscow has established a “full-fledged partnership” with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban and is encouraging other countries in the region to expand cooperation with Kabul, Reuters reported.
The Taliban had regained power in August 2021, after overthrowing the U.S.-backed Afghan government run by President Ashraf Ghani.
In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the possibility of dropping Russia’s classification of the Taliban as a terrorist organization.
FORMER AFGHAN TRANSLATOR WARNS OF STARVATION, HUMANITARIAN CRISIS: ‘BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED IN 2001’
In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the possibility of dropping Russia’s classification of the Taliban as a terrorist organization. (Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo/AP, File)
In 2024, he called the Taliban “allies in the fight against terrorism” and Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
“After several years of vacillation, Russia has become the first country in the world to officially recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan,” Nikita Smagin, an expert on Iranian foreign and domestic policies, Islamism and Russia’s policy in the Middle East, said in a report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“It’s more of a symbolic gesture than something driven by trade or economic considerations,” Smagin added, describing how when Taliban militants entered the Afghan capital in August 2021, “Russia was already deemed eligible for special treatment.”
“Its diplomatic mission was immediately provided with security, and Russian Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov became the first foreign diplomat to meet with the new rulers of Afghanistan,” he explained.
On Wednesday, Shoigu also called for Western countries to unfreeze sanctioned Afghan assets.
AFGHANISTAN’S ONLY WOMEN-LED RADIO STATION TO RESUME OPERATIONS AFTER TALIBAN LIFTS SUSPENSION
Russia has become the first country in the world to officially recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan. (Photo by Elke Scholiers / Getty Images)
“We are convinced that Western countries should unfreeze blocked Afghan assets, fully recognize their responsibility for their 20-year presence in Afghanistan, and bear the burden of the country’s post-conflict reconstruction,” Shoigu said, according to reports.
“Moscow needs to take steps that will restore its image as an influential power that holds the initiative, and recognition of the Taliban regime serves precisely that purpose,” Smagin added.
“The status of the first country to establish official diplomatic relations with the Taliban government should ensure Russia has a leading role in discussions of regional security issues.”
The recognition of the Taliban, he said, was an attempt by Russia to “prove itself as a leading global force that is not afraid to break established norms and set precedents for other countries.”
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Moscow continues to emphasize the need to work directly with Kabul as it faces severe, ongoing security threats from various rival Islamist militant groups operating throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, Reuters said.
Shoigu also said Moscow was building a “pragmatic dialogue” with the Taliban that included security, trade, culture and humanitarian support, the outlet reported May 14.
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