Five columns march to Slavija, Aleksinac rally on Friday

The Student List published on Wednesday, October 14, the routes by which students and citizens will walk to the pre-election rally at Slavija Square in Belgrade. The rally is set for October 22, three days before the snap parliamentary elections on October 25, and will be the list’s last big gathering before the vote. The schedule for the rally at Slavija has not been announced.

Five columns are setting out in total: three from the west, one from the east and one from the north. The first leaves on Friday. The portal wrote earlier about the departure from Zajecar, and now it is known where that column is heading, as well as where the others start.

Where do the columns from the east, west and north go?

The eastern column departs from Zajecar on October 16. Its route runs through Bor, Zagubica, Petrovac, Pozarevac and Smederevo, and it reaches Belgrade on the sixth day. It is the longest route, with five stops along the way.

Three columns set out from the west, according to N1 and Vreme:

• from Gornji Milanovac on October 18, through Ljig, Lazarevac and Obrenovac
• from Valjevo on October 19, through Lazarevac and Obrenovac
• from Sabac on October 19, through Ub and Obrenovac

The northern column leaves Novi Sad on October 20 and stops only in Stara Pazova before Belgrade. The order of departures is therefore clear: Zajecar on Friday, Gornji Milanovac on Sunday, Valjevo and Sabac on Monday, Novi Sad on Tuesday, two days before the rally.

The Student List left a message alongside the routes on its official website, as reported by Vreme:

“Students and citizens from different parts of Serbia are coming to the last rally, with the same wish and the same determination. Those who did not give up are coming, those who persevered and who believe that together we can change things.”

Where do sources differ on the western columns?

The description of the western routes is not the same in every report. The portal 021.rs, citing the map the students published, states that the columns from Sabac, Valjevo and Gornji Milanovac merge into one at Stublina and that the only shared stop before Belgrade is Obrenovac. N1 and Vreme, on the other hand, describe three separate routes and do not mention Stublina. The published descriptions do not settle whether this is a different reading of the same map or a difference in the routes themselves, so it will become clear only once the columns set out.

On one point the sources agree: all three western columns, however they join up, pass through Obrenovac before reaching Belgrade.

What is happening in Aleksinac on Friday?

On the same day the eastern column leaves Zajecar, the list is also holding a pre-election rally of its candidates for parliament in Aleksinac. It will take place on Friday, October 16, from 5 p.m., in the town center. The rally was announced by the students in blockade of the University of Nis.

Four people will speak:

• Dragana Djordjevic, a doctor of chemical sciences
• Gordana Stefanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Nis
• Mladen Krstic, a farmer
• Zoran Djajic, a geology engineer

Eleven days remain until the elections on October 25. Before the rally at Slavija on October 22, the rally in Aleksinac and the five columns on the road come first.