After 18 days, eight countries and 1,950 km (1,211 miles), students from Serbia completed their ultramarathon from Novi Sad to Brussels, arriving in the Belgian capital on Tuesday.

Greeted by citizens at the entrance to key EU institutions, they arrived to the sound of the Italian partisan anthem "Bella Ciao."

Among them was the family of Dunja Stanojkovic, a veterinary student from Pancevo. Her parents and older sister watched her arrival with a mixture of pride, concern and excitement.

"We hope for a better life in Serbia, that our children won't have to leave the country and that we'll bring democracy back to Serbia," her mother Dragana told DW.

Back home in Serbia, protests have been taking place for over six months now.

Initially sparked by the collapse of the concrete canopy at the entrance to the train station in Novi Sad that killed 16 people, the demonstrations have evolved into a broader struggle for justice and accountability and against authoritarianism and corruption.

MEPs welcome students

Brussels, the students say, is just another stop on their protest itinerary. They came here to inform European officials firsthand about the situation in Serbia.

"We want to highlight the problems and make people in Serbia and around the world aware of what we're going through," student Uros Obradovis told DW. "From the European Union, we expect understanding and support for our continued fight."

The first stop in their three-day visit to European institutions was the European Parliament.

European lawmakers were on hand to greet them and congratulate them on their courage and activism.

EU stance on Serbia

These lawmakers recently adopted the EU's latest Progress Report on Serbia, which directly references many of the issues being raised by the students.

"The biggest obstacle to Serbia's progress is precisely the nature of its government, personified by Aleksandar Vucic," Tonino Picula, European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia, told DW.

"We simply cannot accept a wish list from Belgrade while its behavior — like the Serbian president's recent appearance at Putin's military parade in Moscow — sends the opposite message," he said.

Harsh words from the European Parliament are nothing new. What is new, however, is that the center-right European People's Party (EPP), of which Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party is an associate member, has also joined in the criticism.

That's particularly significant, explains Nemanja Todorovic Stiplija, editor-in-chief of European Western Balkans, a regional website that specializes in the European integration process, because the EPP is the most powerful political group in the European Parliament.

"There was a diplomatic push when Donald Tusk and [Kyriakos] Mitsotakis visited Serbia to push Vucic a bit, but it didn't succeed," says Stiplija. "Now, for the first time, the EPP has issued a sharply worded statement saying that a member of the EPP should not be attending a parade in Moscow."

'Von der Leyen can't stay silent forever'

During their three-day visit to Brussels, the students are also expected to meet with Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos and Commissioner for Youth, Sport and Intergenerational Dialogue Glenn Micallef.

During a recent visit to Serbia, Kos said the students' demands align with what the European Commission itself is asking of Serbia, and that the tragedy in Novi Sad would not have happened if the rule of law had been respected.

"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen won't be able to stay silent forever," Slovenian MEP Irena Joveva told DW. "I told her that ignorance kills — literally kills. Now the pressure is also on her, because this is a fight for the European values she is supposed to represent."

Picula also expects a response because, as he notes, the EU's own credibility is on the line.

"You can't have a credible enlargement policy that doesn't lead to real change in the countries knocking on Europe's door — especially Serbia, which, due to its size and importance, may be the most critical candidate country in the Western Balkans. That's why how we approach Serbia now matters for the future of enlargement," he said.

Money as leverage

Words, it seems, have already turned into action: Due to Serbia's failure to meet the obligations outlined in the so-called Growth Plan, the EU has postponed the disbursement of €111 million ($124 million) in aid.

In accordance with this plan, Serbia adopted a Reform Agenda that included specific goals that have to be met by 2027. These goals, which align with its EU accession commitments, included changes to media law, the selection of new members for the media regulator (REM) and a revision of the voter registry.

"The European Commission is hoping the Reform Agenda will compel Serbian authorities to finally act on EU integration, since the process has been stalled for three years," Stiplija explained.

He believes the pressure will intensify — not only from the Commission but also from EU member states and the EPP — because Serbia is the only Western Balkan country that has not fulfilled its obligations under the Reform Agenda and has not, therefore, received funding.

Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia have all made considerably more progress.

What will the students do next?

"The student movement is at a crossroads," Tonino Picula told DW. "Now we need clearer answers to very concrete questions about what will happen next in Serbia."

After months of debate, the students have openly declared that elections are the only viable way forward and have called for a date to be set by mid-May. They also plan to draw up their own electoral list, although details of what this will entail remain unclear.

Sources who spoke to DW say that the EU has yet to adopt a clear position on elections and probably won't until Serbia implements recommendations to improve the electoral conditions outlined by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

"It's not our responsibility or right — nor will we try — to interfere in internal politics," said Irena Joveva. "But we do support them in a fight that is also the EU's fight. And I truly believe, expect and demand — as do many others — that electoral conditions are fair, because that is the foundation of democracy itself."

Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan