After cycling to France, Serbia's protesting students run to Brussels to stir EU attention

NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) — After cycling all the way to France, Serbia's protesting students on Friday embarked on a new endeavor — a nearly 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) run to Brussels aimed at drawing European Union attention to their months-long struggle against corruption and for the rule of law in the Balkan country.

More than 20 students set off from the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad for a relay-style “ultra-marathon” that is expected to last for 18 days. Cheered off by hundreds of people, the students headed toward the eastern Croatian town of Osijek, the first stop on their journey.

Nikola Kojcin acknowledged that “it's going to be really hard, but we'll make it, we have to make it.”

University students have been a key force behind a nationwide anti-graft movement in Serbia rattling populist President Aleksandar Vucic. He is formally leading Serbia toward EU membership but has been accused of stifling democratic freedoms while boosting ties with Russia and China.

Many pro-democracy Serbs are disappointed with what they view as the EU's lukewarm response to Vucic's increasingly authoritarian ways. The students said their run to EU headquarters was a “reminder” that the bloc should insist on its own values of freedom, dignity and the rule of law.

Vucic has repeatedly accused the student protesters of staging a “color revolution" and working to “destroy Serbia” under orders from abroad. He told Informer TV on Thursday evening that Serbia has been “attacked” and blamed the protests for alleged huge damage to the country's economy.

The students said in a press release that they “are not asking to be rescued” by the EU but are "sending a clear reminder to Europe: democratic values ... must be upheld not only in official declarations but in public awareness and collective action.”

The runners are carrying a letter they hope will be read at the EU institutions “so people could hear a bit more about the deep political and social crisis in Serbia,” explained student Aleksa Dimitrijevic.

Almost daily demonstrations were sparked nearly six months ago by a deadly train station canopy collapse in Novi Sad which killed 16 people and which critics blamed on negligence and disrespect of safety regulations fueled by rampant corruption in state-backed infrastructure projects with China.

Symbolically, the student runners started their marathon journey to Brussels from outside the now-closed central railway station in Novi Sad where tons of concrete crashed without warning on the people standing or strolling underneath on Nov. 1.

Many protesters in Serbia have faced attacks during traffic blockades and were questioned by police in the past months.

The students who cycles to Strasbourg, France, in early April met officials from the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. Once in Brussels, the students hope to meet with the EU Commission and European Parliament officials.

A woman holds a poster that shows Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a farewell ceremony for Serbia's protesting students embarking on 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) run to Brussels aimed to draw European Union attention to their months-long struggle against corruption and for the rule of law in Novi Sad, Serbia, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A woman holds a poster that shows Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a farewell ceremony for Serbia's protesting students, embarking on 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) run to Brussels aimed to draw European Union attention to their months-long struggle against corruption and for the rule of law in Novi Sad, Serbia, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's protesting students embark on 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) run to Brussels aimed to draw European Union attention to their months-long struggle against corruption and for the rule of law in Novi Sad, Serbia, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People stand in silence to commemorate the 16 victims killed after a railway concrete canopy fell in November, during a farewell ceremony for Serbia's protesting students embarking on 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) run to Brussels aimed to draw European Union attention to their months-long struggle against corruption and for the rule of law in Novi Sad, Serbia, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's protesting students embark on 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) run to Brussels aimed to draw European Union attention to their months-long struggle against corruption and for the rule of law in Novi Sad, Serbia, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's protesting students embark on 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) run to Brussels aimed to draw European Union attention to their months-long struggle against corruption and for the rule of law in Novi Sad, Serbia, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's protesting students embark on 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) run to Brussels aimed to draw European Union attention to their months-long struggle against corruption and for the rule of law in Novi Sad, Serbia, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People stand in silence to commemorate the a deadly train station canopy collapse during a farewell ceremony by Serbia's protesting students in Novi Sad, Serbia, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai officials said Wednesday they seized 238 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States at the port of Bangkok, one of the biggest lots they've found this year.

The waste, which came in 10 large containers, was declared as mixed metal scrap but turned out to be circuit boards mixed in a huge pile of metal scrap, said Theeraj Athanavanich, director-general of the Customs Department. It was found Tuesday in a random inspection.

A U.N. report last year said electronic waste is piling up worldwide. Some 62 million tons of electronic waste was generated in 2022 and that figure is on track to reach 82 million tons by 2030, the report said. It said only 22% of the waste was properly collected and recycled in 2022 and that quantity is expected to fall to 20% by the end of the decade due to higher consumption, limited repair options, shorter product life cycles, and inadequate management infrastructure.

Theeraj said Thai authorities are looking to press charges including falsely declaring imported goods, illegally importing electronic waste and planning to return the waste to its country of origin.

“It’s important that we take action on this kind of goods,” he said. “There are environmental impacts that are dangerous to the people, especially communities around factories that might import these things for processing, then recycling.”

Electronic waste creates huge health hazards. Many components are laden with lead and mercury, cadmium and other toxins. Recyclers are after gold, silver, palladium and copper, mainly from printed circuit boards, but lax controls mean that facilities often burn plastics to release encased copper and use unsafe methods to extract precious metals.

Thailand passed a ban on the import of a range of electronic waste products in 2020. The Cabinet in February approved an expanded list of the banned waste.

Sunthron Kewsawang, deputy director-general of the Department of Industrial Works, said officials suspected at least two factories in Samut Sakhon province, which borders Bangkok, are involved in importing the waste.

In January, the Customs Department said it seized 256 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from Japan and Hong Kong at a port in eastern Thailand.

A Thai official shows samples of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States which they said they seized at Bangkok Port during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai officials display samples of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States which they said they seized at Bangkok Port during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai officials show samples of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States which they said they seized at Bangkok Port during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A Thai official shows a sample of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States which they said they seized at Bangkok Port during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)