Belgrade Protests Swell to 140,000 as Vučić Rejects Snap Elections

An estimated 140,000 people packed central Belgrade on 28 June in the largest anti-government rally Serbia has seen in recent months, according to an independent crowd-counting group. Led chiefly by university students and anti-corruption activists, demonstrators demanded snap parliamentary elections and an end to President Aleksandar Vučić’s 12-year rule.

The protest turned violent after nightfall. Riot police fired tear gas, stun grenades and pepper spray as some protesters hurled flares, bottles and stones. The Interior Ministry said 48 officers were injured and 22 protesters sought medical help; 77 people were arrested, with 38 remaining in custody on criminal charges. Vučić later vowed “many more arrests,” calling organisers “terrorists.”

Anger over the detentions triggered fresh unrest on 29 June. Thousands erected makeshift barricades and blocked major roads and bridges in Belgrade and at least 17 other cities, demanding the release of detainees and reiterating calls for early elections. Police dismantled the blockades before dawn on 30 June and made additional arrests, but organisers pledged to continue civil-disobedience actions.

Vučić has so far refused to bring forward elections scheduled for 2027, accusing unnamed foreign actors of fomenting unrest. Moscow weighed in on 30 June, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning Western governments against supporting a “colour revolution” in Serbia.

The student-led movement began after a renovated railway-station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing 16 people and fuelling allegations of graft and official negligence. Eight months on, the protests have evolved into the most sustained challenge to Vučić’s governance as Serbia balances its European Union aspirations with longstanding ties to Russia and China.