Serbia (BN24) – Riot police clashed for hours with protesters in the Serbian capital late Saturday as tens of thousands gathered to demand snap elections and an end to President Aleksandar Vucic’s 12-year grip on power, a challenge that has grown into one of the most serious threats to his rule in over a decade.
The massive anti-government demonstration filled Belgrade’s central Slavija Square and surrounding streets, echoing months of protests that erupted after the deadly collapse of a newly renovated rail station canopy in November. The tragedy, which killed 16 people, became a rallying point for widespread anger over alleged corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects.
Police in helmets and body armor deployed throughout the city’s core, sealing off government buildings and parliament as tensions simmered. Organizers, many of them university students, delivered speeches denouncing Vucic’s leadership. One student, who declined to give her name, declared the authorities “illegitimate,” urging early parliamentary elections as a way out of what she called a deepening social crisis.
“Elections are a clear way out of the social crisis caused by the deeds of the government, which is undoubtedly against the interests of their own people,” she told the cheering crowd.
As night fell, confrontations intensified. Protesters hurled bottles, rocks and flares toward riot police blocking access to Pionirski Park, where hundreds of Vucic’s supporters have camped for months in a show of loyalty. Officers responded with tear gas in several locations across central Belgrade to scatter the crowds, resulting in chaotic scenes that stretched late into the evening.
Police detained several dozen demonstrators and reported that six officers were injured during the clashes. Dragan Vasiljevic, Serbia’s police director, confirmed the arrests during a late-night press conference.
In a statement posted to Instagram after the violence, Vucic, who has cultivated an increasingly authoritarian style since coming to power, appeared defiant. “Serbia always wins in the end,” he wrote.
Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have rejected calls for early elections, accusing opposition activists of provoking unrest under orders from foreign powers, though officials have offered no evidence to support those claims. The president, a former extreme nationalist who now says he wants Serbia to join the European Union, has been widely criticized by rights groups and Western observers for suppressing democratic freedoms and tightening ties with Russia and China.
While the demonstrations had diminished in scale in recent weeks, the turnout on Saturday underscored the lingering anger toward the government and the determination of opponents to keep up pressure. After nearly eight months of protests—sometimes almost daily—the latest rally revealed that frustration over corruption, stalled reforms and creeping authoritarianism remains a potent force on Serbia’s streets.
