Anti-government protests continue in Serbia

Thousands of citizens joined the blockade that followed weeks of protests demanding accountability of the deadly accident in the northern city of Novi Sad that critics have blamed on rampant government corruption.

Striking university students in Serbia's have launched a 24-hour blockade of a key traffic intersection in the capital, Belgrade, stepping up pressure on the populist authorities over a deadly canopy collapse in November that killed 15 people.

A campaign of street demonstrations has posed the biggest challenge in years to the populist government's firm grip on power in Serbia.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić at a joint press conference on Monday with Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić, urged dialogue with the students, saying that “we need to lower the tensions and start talking to each other.”