Nis: SNS Torches Flare at Fortress After Cyclists' Welcome
SNS activists lit torches at the Nis Fortress moments after the 'Guardians of the Constitution' cyclists were welcomed at the Belgrade Gate. PODES calls it a provocation.
Two separate gatherings took place near the Belgrade Gate of the Nis Fortress on Monday evening, some hundred meters apart. Citizens welcomed participants of the Guardians of the Constitution bicycle tour, led by the Student List, with torches, a kolo dance and song, while on the Fortress Bridge activists of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) set up stands as part of the United Serbia campaign.
The welcome began around 8 p.m., after students carrying the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia through towns across the country ahead of the October 25 parliamentary elections led the column in from Kraljevo. Srpske Novine previously reported on the welcome in Kraljevo and on the announcement that the tour was heading to Nis, and Monday night’s event continues that story.
Two rallies, two messages on the same bridge
A banner in the colors of the Serbian flag reading “Serbia is winning” appeared on the Fortress walls before the cyclists arrived. Once the student gathering ended, SNS activists lit torches at the same spot. According to Naissus, the group could be heard chanting “Aco, Srbine” and “Ratko Mladic,” along with taunts and insults directed at citizens crossing back over the bridge from the welcome. Neither the SNS Nis City Board nor Mayor Dragoslav Pavlovic responded to these claims, and no source records that they did.
According to Niske Vesti, Pavlovic himself was on the bridge along with his associates and the directors of several city companies and institutions. SNS member Jovana Djukic explained why the party chose that spot and that moment:
“We are here at King Milan Square in large numbers to hear our fellow citizens, their suggestions and their problems. We are here for everyone.”
On the other side of the bridge, at the Belgrade Gate, a Nis student who is part of the cycling tour addressed the crowd. Sources disagree on her name: Juzne Vesti and Naissus identify her as Nada Jovanovic, while Niske Vesti calls her Nadja Jovanovic. She called on citizens to vote for list number three, which includes the Student List, in the elections:
“We want a country where the Constitution is respected and applied in everyday life. A country where the rights and obligations of every citizen are equally important. Students have a plan, and students are winning.”
She was joined by Slavoljub Uzunovic, a professor at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education and a Student List candidate, while professor Marija Mitrovic handed out copies of the Constitution to the tour’s participants.
Provocation or an address to citizens
Dragan Milic, a cardiologist and president of the Movement for Decentralization of Serbia (PODES), described the SNS gathering on the bridge as a calculated move ahead of the elections:
“Tonight a small group of about fifty SNS members gathered on the bridge by the Nis Fortress to provoke the people of Nis who came to welcome the cyclists and students. Apparently violence is the only ‘argument’ they have left in the political fight to preserve their criminalized regime.”
That is his assessment, not an established fact. Reports from the scene record taunts and insults, but no source mentions a physical clash. Sources also do not fully agree on the number of police officers present: Niske Vesti says there were no uniformed officers on the bridge itself, while according to N1, as carried by Nova, police were positioned between the two groups. Juzne Vesti mentions a police van parked near the bridge but does not report any clash.
Tour continues toward Prokuplje
The Guardians of the Constitution campaign began on September 17 in Belgrade, where two groups set off in different directions. The southern route runs through Valjevo, Gornji Milanovac, Uzice and Kraljevo to Nis, and from there on to Prokuplje, Leskovac and Vranje. A return to Nis is planned for September 24, followed by a continuation toward Kragujevac.
Student Rade, who had already passed through Merosina with the column on the way to Prokuplje, where a welcome is scheduled for 11 a.m., described the campaign’s message to N1:
“Our message is that the Constitution is the highest legal act, which must be respected, and that all laws should be in line with it. We also want to remind everyone that the Constitution should be respected.”
He added that, despite the incident on the bridge, he considered the welcome in Nis one of the most memorable since the tour began, and left commentary on the actions of “political rivals” to others.
