Students and citizens march to protest the deaths of 15 people killed in the November collapse of a train station canopy in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Female students on Saturday marked International Women's Day in Serbia by leading the daily street protests against corruption, and thousands later joined a separate student-led rally pressuring the populist government.

Riot police deployed at a bridge over the Sava River in Belgrade to stop several farmers on tractors from reaching the city center where the protest rally was under way at a central square.

No incidents of violence were reported and the protesters later joined the farmers.

The female students earlier said they wanted to send a message decrying widespread violence against women in the Balkan country. In the northern city of Novi Sad, women protesters pelted a municipal building with eggs in protest over what they described as a sexist remark by a senior official.

University students in Serbia are behind almost daily rallies that started after a concrete canopy crashed down in November at a railway station in Novi Sad, killing 15 people.

Many in Serbia believe that the huge concrete construction fell down because of poor renovation work fueled by government corruption. Street demonstrations have become a challenge to populist President Aleksandar Vucic.

The students carried a banner reading: “Women in front rows," heading the marching column that passed through central streets in Belgrade and by the building hosting the state prosecutor's office.

The protesters held 19 minutes of silence, instead of the 15 held normally for the 15 victims of the canopy crash. The additional four minutes were dedicated to the four women killed in domestic violence in Serbia this year.

”I am here to support all women around the world, all mothers and fighters, and students of course," said Slavica Djajic, a resident of Belgrade.

The protesting university students have insisted on full accountability in the canopy fall, a call that has garnered widespread support among citizens who are largely disillusioned with politicians and have lost trust in state institutions.

Student-led rallies have drawn tens of thousands of people, becoming among the biggest ever in Serbia, which has a long history of anti-government protests. Vucic has described the rallies as a Western-orchestrated ploy to oust him from power.

The next big rally is planned on March 15 in Belgrade and Vucic alleged that “they will try to achieve something with violence and that will be the end.” He added that “many (demonstrators) will end up behind bars accused of criminal acts.”

All student-led protests in the past months have been peaceful, while incidents were recorded of opponents driving their cars into protest blockades or attacking the protesters.

The populist leader and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have held a firm grip on power in Serbia for over a decade, facing accusations of stifling democratic freedoms despite formally seeking European Union entry for Serbia.

Authorities have indicted 16 people over the canopy collapse, but many doubt that the actual culprits will face justice.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025