
Serbian general strike in practice: Some joined, others offered free coffee and food
Many small business owners, restaurant owners, bookstore owners, and nightclub owners responded to the general strike in Serbia. Their common message is – support for students. However, there were also places that were open and offered free coffee. .
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In the early morning rush hour, the streets of Belgrade were empty. Only a few cars and city sanitation workers, writes N1.
Padlocks on the shops.
"The idea and desire to live in a country, an environment in which there will be a normal attitude towards young people and towards anyone else, where that country will function normally in every segment," says the owner of the Makart bookstore, Pedja Kresojevic.
Both the bookstores "Delphi" and "Laguna" closed their doors to customers. And some catering establishments have been without guests since the morning. The owners say - we are striking to support the students.
"If you give up on your years, on various things in life, on the pressure you are under, you will be left without a budget, your loans will be canceled, which is the worst thing we can lose except this Friday," says Marija Shkokljev from Tranquilo Restaurant and Cocktail Bar.
Small business owners have nothing to lose either. Bakery owners said: By joining the general strike, we are further strengthening our support for young people.
"I was against working today, because when the state assigns us PIB numbers as prison numbers, to pay that tax with which they will beat our children, and my son is a student, I will not work while they beat children, end of story," says the owner of a bakery in Kragujevac, Nenad Maksimović.
Nightclubs will also not be open. In many of them, parties have been canceled.
"We are doing this for ourselves, for our future, but above all for the future of our children. Everyone on the right side of the river or the street will not work tonight, and the others should treat themselves," says the owner of Minival Club, Đorđe Stajkić.
The owners of "elite" bars in Belgrade have decided to work. Some are offering free coffee, others free food. Tabloids are organizing a report that Serbia has not stopped and that the general strike has failed, writes N1.