Serbian

Shots were fired outside Serbia’s parliament in Belgrade, injuring a supporter of President Aleksandar Vucic, who called the incident as a “terrorist attack”. Police say the 70-year-old suspect acted alone after setting a tent ablaze near a pro-government encampment amid year-long anti-Vucic protests.

After 10 months of dissent, protests show no signs of dying down as fury at alleged government corruption grows.

Serbia’s police have fired tear gas and stun grenades at antigovernment protesters in the city of Novi Sad who are demanding snap elections and an end to President Aleksandar Vucic’s 12-year government.

Thousands gathered on Friday at the city’s state university campus for yet another demonstration after 10 months of persistent dissent prompted by the fatal collapse of the Novi Sad train station roof last November, which killed 16 people.

The tragedy became a flashpoint for frustrations with the government, with many Serbians saying it had been caused by alleged corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects and calling for Vucic’s departure.

“Vucic leave,” the crowds chanted, repeating their calls for early elections as they marched towards the campus, where police attempted to disperse them with tear gas and stun grenades.

The Beta news agency reported that protesters had earlier thrown flares and bottles at the police.

In an address late on Friday evening, President Vucic said that 11 policemen were injured. There was no information on how many protesters have been injured.

“We are not going to allow destruction of the state institutions,” Vucic told reporters. “Serbia is a strong and responsible state.”

He accused foreign security services of being behind antigovernment protesters and said his supporters would hold rallies in cities across Serbia on Sunday.

The months of nationwide protests have largely passed off peacefully, but took a more violent turn on August 13, when dozens of civilians and police officers were injured in clashes in a number of locations.

The violence, which protesters blamed on heavy-handed tactics by government loyalists and police, was repeated on Monday at a march in Novi Sad to mark the 10-month anniversary of the tragedy.

Authorities have rejected allegations of brutality, despite videos showing officers beating unarmed protesters, and accusations that activists were assaulted while in custody.

Students, opposition groups and anticorruption watchdogs accuse Vucic and his allies of ties to organised crime, using violence against political rivals and suppressing media freedoms.

Vucic denies the allegations and has remained defiantly in office at the helm of a reshuffled administration. His nationalist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has responded to protests by staging its own rallies around the country.

Opposition party dismisses possibility of talks as President Aleksandar Vucic urges debate after nine months of angry protests.

Serbia’s populist president has called for dialogue with antigovernment protesters in the Balkan country following more than nine months of demonstrations that have challenged his rule.

“Serbia has to solve its problems with democratic dialogue, not with violence,” President Aleksandar Vucic wrote in a post accompanied by a video that he shared on Instagram on Friday.

“I invite the representatives of the blockade movement to a conversation and a public debate about visions, to discuss our plans and programmes for the future and all together condemn the violence on our streets,” he added.

In the video address from his office in Belgrade, Vucic said he was ready to speak with the representatives of students and other antigovernment protesters, including in TV debates.

“I propose … discussion and debate on all our televisions, on all our [internet] portals with legitimate representatives, that is, those they choose,” Vucic said.

The months of protests across Serbia were prompted by the deaths of 16 people when a roof on a renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed last November.

Protesters have blamed corruption for the station disaster and are demanding early elections in the hope of ousting Vucic and his party.

They also accuse the government of using violence against political rivals and suppressing media freedoms. The government denies all the allegations.

The protests were mainly peaceful until earlier this month, when dozens of police officers and civilians were injured in clashes, and hundreds were detained.

‘You don’t make a fire department with an arsonist’

“I want us to confront visions … to solve that through dialogue and conversation … no conflict, no violence. To rebuild the country again, to get it back on track where it was nine months ago,” Vucic said.

Savo Manojlovic, the head of the centrist opposition Move-Change party, dismissed the possibility of talks.

“A president who resorts to violence is not someone with whom you can debate about political issues, this is a … corrupt government that tramples on … democracy and human rights,” Manojlovic said.

“You don’t make a fire department with an arsonist.”

Vucic’s second and final five-year presidential term ends in 2027, when parliamentary elections are also due.

Representatives of the students said they would debate with Vucic only during an election campaign.

“He [Vucic] has no answer to the popular rebellion … We will debate … during the campaign, after the elections are announced,” students from the Belgrade-based Faculty of Philosophy said in a statement.

Protesters have clashed with riot police in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, and other cities, on the fifth consecutive night of demonstrations against the government of right-wing President Aleksandar Vucic.

Clashes also broke out in Belgrade late on Saturday after police stopped demonstrators heading for the governing Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) headquarters.

Late on Saturday, thousands gathered in the central city of Valjevo to show their growing anger against the government, while a small group of masked young men attacked the empty offices of the governing SNS party, setting them alight.

They subsequently clashed with riot police, with protesters throwing fireworks and rocks as the officers responded with stun grenades and tear gas.

Some clashes were also reported in the northern city of Novi Sad, the country’s second largest.

Almost daily protests have gripped Serbia since November, following the collapse of a railway station roof that killed 16 people.

The tragedy became a symbol of deep-rooted corruption in the Balkan nation, with demands for a transparent investigation growing into calls for early elections.

At their height, the protests drew hundreds of thousands onto the streets.

However, the mostly peaceful demonstrations deteriorated earlier this week when large groups of pro-government supporters – many masked and some armed with batons and fireworks – attacked protesters.

That has led to violent clashes for several nights, leaving many injured on both sides.

Protests were further heightened after several videos shared online showed police striking unarmed demonstrators with batons.

Police have denied allegations of brutality, accusing demonstrators of attacking officers.

While the protests have so far led to the resignation of the prime minister and the collapse of the government, President Vucic has remained defiant.

He has repeatedly rejected calls for early elections and denounced the demonstrations as part of a foreign plot to overthrow him.

Protests started last year after deadly collapse of rail station roof, with President Vucic accused of corruption.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Serbia, smashing windows of the governing party’s headquarters in the northern city of Novi Sad, where the country’s antigovernment revolt started more than nine months ago.

The protesters came out in force for a third night on Thursday, following major clashes earlier in the week that saw dozens detained or injured, demanding that President Aleksandar Vucic call an early election.

In Novi Sad, where a train station canopy collapsed last year, killing 16 people and creating public anger over alleged corruption in infrastructure projects, protesters attacked the offices of the governing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), carrying away furniture and documents, and splashing paint on the entrance.

“He is finished,” they shouted, with reference to the president as they demolished the offices. The police and Vucic’s supporters, who have guarded the office in Serbia’s second-largest city for months, were nowhere to be seen.

In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, hundreds of protesters and SNS supporters threw flares and firecrackers at each other on one of the city’s main boulevards. Police fired tear gas at least two locations to disperse the protesters and keep the opposing camps apart.

Similar protests were held in towns across the country.

Vucic told pro-government Informer television that “the state will win” as he announced a crackdown on antigovernment protesters, accusing them of inciting violence and of being “enemies of their own country”.

“I think it is clear they did not want peace and Gandhian protests. There will be more arrests,” he said during the broadcast.

He reiterated earlier claims that the protests have been organised from abroad, offering no evidence.

The previous night, there were gatherings at some 90 locations in the country, according to Interior Minister Ivica Dacic the following day.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that 47 people were arrested in Wednesday’s clashes, with about 80 civilians and 27 police officers left injured.

The EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said on X that the reports of violence were “deeply concerning”.

“Advancing on the EU path requires citizens can express their views freely and journalists can report without intimidation or attacks,” Kos said on X.

The Serbian president denies allegations of allowing organised crime and corruption to flourish in the country, which is a candidate for European Union membership.

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.

June 28 (UPI) — Serbian police clashed with some protesters who marched in Belgrade on Saturday, while demanding an early election to replace President Aleksander Vucic and seat a new government.

The protest was scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 local time but lasted about an hour longer, and some protesters threw flares at riot police, who were carrying shields and batons and at times used tear gas on protesters.

“There were clashes between police and protesters in Serbia’s capital of Belgrade on Saturday night as police tried to ensure security for a pro-government encampment near the national parliament,” the Balkan Insight news outlet reported on X.

Student organizers billed the event as the “See you on Vidovdan” protest, which drew tens of thousands of participants. Vidodvan is a Serbian national and religious holiday.

Before the protest got underway, Vucic on Saturday said he anticipated some violence, the Sarajevo Times reported.

“It is impossible for someone to invest huge money against a country without at least trying something,” Vucic said.

The Serbian president said a “lot of evil has been done to Serbia” by anti-government protests, which he called a “mistake.”

“Serbia is very strong. This is not a handful of oats that every crow is a pretty to,” Vucic said.

“We will do our best to be restrained,” he added. “The state will be preserved and defended, and the bullies will be brought to justice.”

Vucic said government and police officials anticipated violence occurring around the same time the protest was scheduled to end and were ready to handle it.

The protest organizers previously demanded early elections by Saturday.

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.

June 11 (UPI) — Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will mark his first-ever official visit to Ukraine on Wednesday since he took the presidency nearly eights years ago to take part in a European summit.

Vucic will pay a one-day visit to Serbia’s war-torn northern neighbor, where he will participate in the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit in Odesa, the Serbian presidential office announced.

Few official details were shared.

Meanwhile, it’s expected to gather representatives from a dozen southeastern European nations, including newly-elected Romanian President Nicusor Dan, who is also on his first visit to Ukraine since his own election win last month.

European political experts say Vucic’s presence signals an EU-realignment for Serbia, which has largely remained neutral, with respect to Russia’s full-scale invasion and war in Ukraine.

In recent months, Russia and Serbia’s long-existing diplomatic ties have been strained.

Vucic took sharp criticism from EU officials regarding Serbia’s bid to enter the 27-member European Union after his recent trip to Moscow on May 9 for President Vladimir Putin’s military parade as one of few European leaders to attend.

It arrived as three people were killed and 68 others injured overnight after Russian forces hit civilian targets across the frontline regions of Kharkiv and Kherson.