A red carpet was prepared for the student cyclists and thousands of citizens queued from the bridge all the way to the city centre along Mihajlo Pupina Avenue.

The students arrived at the bridge around 8.15 pm local time, walked the red carpet on the bridge, and were then presented with medals and laurel wreaths. They then arrived at the Serbian National Theatre, where the main event took place.

The students took to the stage, where they were presented with certificates of appreciation, and the assembled citizens greeted them with enthusiasm and shouts of "Pumpay, pumpay".

The flags of the countries the students passed through on their way to Strasbourg were also presented.

"At the peak of injustice and corruption, my initial reaction was not to run away, but to fight to stay. My colleagues and I cycled half of Europe. We are not going anywhere. My generation will speak of those days with pride, because this is our Serbia. A brighter future awaits this same Serbia. Although we went to Strasbourg on bicycles, we will never leave Serbia," he told the newspaper. "Bane Bogdanovic, a student at the Academy of Arts.

"Our struggle is not only within our borders, but everywhere we are, everywhere our diaspora is, everywhere we seek justice, because we have found support on almost every continent," said student Lazar.

The students read out an open letter to all the people who have supported them from all over the world, and to those who have helped them in any way on their way to Strasbourg, above all the Serbian diaspora.

BGNES recalls that the aim of the students on their trip to Strasbourg was to draw the attention of the European public and institutions to the massive protests and civil discontent in Serbia against the regime of President Aleksandar Vucic.

On 16 April, students demanded justice for the victims of Novi Sad in front of the European institutions by observing 16 minutes of silence - one minute for each person who died in the Novi Sad train station collapse. | BGNES