For Serbia's Muslim students, protest brings sense of belonging

Students from Novi Pazar walk past a church before entering Novi Sad, after completing a walk of more than 400 km from Novi Pazar, in Novi Sad, Serbia, October 31, 2025. A year-long blockade of Novi Pazar University by the students, which had stopped lectures from taking place, ended little over a week ago, after the replacement of the university's rector and the reversal of a ban on 200 students, who had been expelled for their anti-government activism. Their protest outlasted those at most other universities in Serbia, and saw students occupy the buildings even after authorities had cut the heating. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

NOVI PAZAR, Serbia, Feb 5(Reuters) - When Merima Avdic crossed a ‌bridge over the Danube River to reach the city of Novi Sad in November, a Serbian flag in her hand, fireworks lit the sky ‌and tens of thousands of protesting students cheered to welcome her and her peers.

She had walkedmore than 400 km (249 miles) from the university ‌of Novi Pazar in the Muslim-majority Sandzak region of southwest Serbia, to join one of the largest and longest protests in the country in decades, triggered by the collapse of a railway station roof a year earlier.