BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Dozens of Serbian cyclists are traveling some 1,300 kilometers to the European Parliament in Strasbourg to draw attention to their country's ongoing anti-corruption campaign.
The pedaling protesters were welcomed in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, on April 5 after setting off from the Serbian city of Novi Sad two days earlier.
The deadly collapse of a railway station cement canopy in Novi Sad last November killed 16 people and triggered nationwide demonstrations in Serbia, with protesters blaming the government for corruption and poor oversight.
The protesters are now trying to get support from outside Serbia and from EU lawmakers.
"We hope for change; we hope for a better country, and we hope for the best," said Stefan, who was among the student protesters who biked in Budapest.
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Budapest Welcomes Serbia's Pedaling Protesters
Budapest's mayor, Gergely Karacsony, voiced his support for the Serbian cyclists as did some Serbian students who are studying in the Hungarian capital.
"I’m here to support my friends, family, and everyone who is trying to change something in Serbia," said one female student, "to make Serbia a better place to live for all of us."
Students in Serbia have been a driving force behind the anti-government protests in their country and have called on the government to release all documents related to construction work at Novi Sad's railway station.
The authorities claim they have made public all “available documents,” but protesters reject that claim.
The students plan to cycle through four countries -- Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany -- before reaching France in about two weeks and the EU Parliament in Strasbourg.
Meanwhile, back in Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic on April 6 named Djuro Macut, a little-known medical professor, as prime minister-designate amid the political crisis.
Vucic, one of the founders of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, which has been in power since 2012, presented it as a "movement of great change."
On January 28, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned following weeks of mass protests demanding accountability for the deadly accident. Vucic said he accepted the resignation reluctantly because, he insisted, Vucevic “did nothing wrong.