Serbia

A number of protesters have been arrested, but police have not shared the exact number.

Serbian police have cleared barricades set up by protesters in the capital after a weekend of antigovernment demonstrations that led to clashes with the police and captured an outpouring of months-long public dissent against the government.

On Monday, police removed metal fences and moved rubbish containers that had been blocking traffic in Belgrade’s Zemun district, while several dozen protesters chanted antigovernment slogans and declared they would return to the streets.

In a statement, the police said many people had been arrested but did not give their number. Their arrest has fuelled anger among those demonstrating against a populist government it accuses of authoritarian policies.

Protesters have called for the immediate release of those accused of attacking the police or plotting to overthrow the government.

President Aleksandar Vucic, who has promised a crackdown on protesters, praised the police action during a visit to Spain on Monday and said, “Citizens should not worry, the state is strong enough to secure law and order.”

Over the past eight months, student-led protests have taken place nearly daily after the collapse of a train station roof killed 16 people in November in the city of Novi Sad.

While the incident followed renovation work at the station, it has been widely blamed on poor construction and endemic corruption in the corridors of power.

On Saturday, an estimated 140,000 people rallied in Belgrade, in one of the largest demonstrations in the past few months, calling for a snap election to oust Vucic’s right-wing government. Authorities have, however, disputed the strength of the crowd, saying only about 36,000 people were demonstrating.

During the protest, some protesters clashed with the police, with nearly 50 officers and 22 protesters injured. Riot police used batons, pepper spray and shields to charge at demonstrators who threw rocks, among other objects.

The police said about 40 people face criminal charges over the clash. Serbian authorities arrested at least eight university students, accusing them of planning attacks on state institutions.

Following the November disaster, public outcry triggered the resignation of the prime minister and the collapse of the government.

Still, Vucic reshuffled his cabinet and formed a new government, refusing to announce a snap election ahead of its scheduled 2027 date.

The president accused “foreign powers” of orchestrating the Saturday protest and said protesters had been trying to “topple Serbia” but failed.

A close neighbour, Russia, commented on the protests on Monday and said the demonstrations could be an attempted “colour revolution”, a likely reference to Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution.

“We have no doubt that the current Serbian leadership will be able to restore law and order in the republic in the very near future,” it added.

Vucic is regarded as a close ally of Moscow and was in the country on May 9 for the Red Square military parade, the most sacrosanct date on the Russian calendar, held to commemorate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany’s Third Reich in World War II.

President Aleksandar Vucic had earlier vowed many more protesters would be arrested, as 38 remain in custody.

Thousands of people have set up street blockades in Serbia, where tensions are boiling over after the arrest of antigovernment protesters who clashed with police at a massive night-time rally a day earlier that demanded early elections, marking a crescendo of months-long public dissent.

Protesters put up metal fences and garbage containers at various locations in the capital Belgrade late on Sunday into early Monday, also blocking a key bridge over the Sava River. Protesters in the northern city of Novi Sad pelted the offices of the ruling populist Serbian Progressive Party with eggs.

Serbian media said similar protest blockades were organised in smaller cities across the country.

Protesters are demanding that authorities release dozens of university students and others at the demonstration who were jailed for allegedly attacking the police or purportedly plotting to overthrow the government at Saturday’s student-led protest in Belgrade.

At a news conference earlier on Sunday, Serbia’s embattled populist leader Aleksandar Vucic accused the organisers of the protest of inciting violence and attacks on police.

“There will be many more arrested for attacking police … this is not the end,” Vucic said, accusing the protesters of causing “terror”.

Clashes erupted after the official part of the rally ended. Police used pepper spray, batons and shields while protesters threw rocks, bottles and other objects.

Critics say Vucic has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power more than a decade ago, having served as first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014 and prime minister from 2014 to 2017 before becoming president, stifling democratic freedoms while allowing corruption and organised crime to flourish. He denies the accusations.

Saturday’s rally was one of the largest in eight sustained months of demonstrations triggered by the roof collapse at a train station in the city of Novi Sad in November that killed 16 people – a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption.

Following the outcry over the disaster, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned, but the governing party continued in power, with a reshuffled government and Vucic still in office.

Authorities put the crowd’s size at 36,000 – well below an independent estimate by the Archive of Public Gatherings of about 140,000.

During his news conference, Vucic also criticised “terrorists and those who tried to bring down the state”, singling out University of Belgrade’s head dean, Vladan Djokic, who was among the protesters.

‘Take freedom into your own hands’

“Serbia won. You cannot destroy Serbia with violence,” said Vucic. “They consciously wanted to spur bloodshed. The time of accountability is coming.”

Protesters say the current populist government is “illegitimate” and lay the responsibility for any violence on the government.

Police said on Sunday that 48 officers were injured while 22 protesters sought medical help. Out of 77 people arrested, 38 remain in custody, most of whom are facing criminal charges, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.

Before Saturday’s protest, organisers had issued an “ultimatum” for Vucic to call elections – a demand he has repeatedly rejected.

After the rally, organisers played a statement to the crowd calling for Serbians to “take freedom into your own hands” and giving them the “green light”.

“The authorities had all the mechanisms and all the time to meet the demands and prevent an escalation,” the organisers said in a statement on Instagram.

On Sunday, Vucic reiterated that there would not be any national vote before the end of 2026.

He has repeatedly alleged the protests are part of a foreign plot to destroy his 12-year government, without providing any evidence.

More than a dozen people have been arrested in recent weeks, a crackdown that has now become routine in the face of large demonstrations.

Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership, but Vucic’s government has nurtured close relations with Russia and China.

Police in Serbia fired tear gas and arrested dozens as anti-government protests in Belgrade turned violent. Tens of thousands of people, led by students, are calling for President Aleksandar Vucic to step down and hold early elections, accusing him of corruption and silencing dissent.

Dozens of antigovernment protesters have been arrested amid clashes with riot police in Serbia’s capital during a massive rally against populist President Aleksandar Vucic, demanding an early parliamentary election.

The protest by tens of thousands of demonstrators was held after nearly eight months of persistent dissent led by Serbia’s university students, which has rattled Vucic’s firm grip on power in the Balkan country.

“We want elections!” the huge crowd chanted on Saturday as they filled the capital’s central Slavija Square and several blocks around it, with many unable to reach the venue.

Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said some protesters attacked the police. He said police used their powers to restore public order and “arrest all those who attacked the police”.

Some demonstrators wore scarves and masks over their faces as they clashed with law enforcement, using rubbish bins as protection against baton-wielding police. Police used pepper spray before pushing protesters with their shields.

Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly refused the demand for an early vote and accused protesters of planning to incite violence on orders from abroad, which they did not specify or provide evidence of.

While numbers have shrunk in recent weeks, the massive turnout for Saturday’s anti-Vucic rally suggested that the resolve persists, despite relentless pressure and after nearly eight months of almost daily protests.

Serbian police said 36,000 people were present at the start of the protest on Saturday. An independent monitoring group that records public gatherings said about 140,000 people attended the student-led rally.

Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2027.

President Vucic maintains hold on power after eight months of protests over roof crash that critics allege was linked to graft.

Tens of thousands of anticorruption protesters have taken to the streets of Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, demanding an early election in a bid to end the 12-year rule of President Aleksandar Vucic.

Large numbers of officers in riot gear were deployed to police Saturday’s protests, which were organised by Serbia’s university students.

The students were a driving force behind nationwide demonstrations that started nearly eight months ago after the deadly collapse of a renovated concrete rail station roof in the northern city of Novi Sad killed 16 people.

The tragedy last November became a flashpoint for frustrations with the government, with many Serbians saying that it had been caused by alleged corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects.

Under pressure, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned at the start of this year, but Vucic remains in power.

Serbia’s railway company halted train service over an alleged bomb threat in what critics said was an apparent bid to prevent people from travelling to Belgrade for the rally.

Hours before the rally at Slavija Square and Nemanjina Avenue, Vucic’s party sent in buses of its own supporters from other parts of the country, many wearing T-shirts reading: “We won’t give up Serbia”.

They were joining loyalists who have been camping near Vucic’s office in central Belgrade since mid-March.

Vucic, a populist whose Progressive Party-led coalition holds 156 of 250 parliamentary seats, told reporters on Saturday that unspecified “foreign powers” were behind the protest. He said police should be restrained, but warned that “thugs will face justice”.

Vucic has previously refused snap elections and has been intent on continuing his second term, which ends in 2027, when there are also parliamentary elections scheduled.

But his hold on power has been rattled, with opponents accusing him and allies of ties to organised crime, violence against rivals and curbing media freedoms – charges they deny.

Earlier this week, police arrested several people accused of allegedly plotting to overthrow the government and banned entry into the country, without explanation, to several people from Croatia and a theatre director from Montenegro.