Serbian riot police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse demonstrators after one of the country’s largest anti-government rallies in years turned violent late Saturday in Belgrade. The student-led march, demanding snap parliamentary elections, blocked central avenues and briefly surrounded government buildings before clashes erupted. Officers said protesters hurled rocks, flares and bottles; television footage showed armoured vehicles moving in to clear the streets.
An independent crowd-counting organisation put turnout at about 140,000 people, while police estimated 36,000. The Interior Ministry reported 48 injured officers and 22 hurt protesters and confirmed 77 arrests, adding that many of those detained face criminal charges. When police removed the initial barricades, thousands of demonstrators erected new roadblocks across Belgrade and in at least 17 other cities on Sunday night, triggering further arrests early Monday.
The protest wave began eight months ago after a renovated rail-station roof collapsed in Novi Sad, killing 16 people and fuelling allegations of corruption and negligence inside President Aleksandar Vucic’s administration. Student groups have since broadened their demands to include an overhaul of voter rolls, equal media access for opposition parties and recognition of university plenums as legal entities, arguing that regular elections scheduled for 2027 lack credibility under current conditions.
Vucic, whose Serbian Progressive Party has ruled for more than a decade, has rejected calls for an early vote, labelled organisers “terrorists” and promised additional arrests. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, cautioned Western governments against supporting what he described as a possible “colour revolution”, while the European Commission said it is “closely following” events. Protest leaders vow to maintain civil-disobedience actions until their demands are met, keeping pressure on a government already facing its most sustained challenge since coming to power.
This was in the streets of Belgrade tonight.
After months of massive anti-government protests the police are exhausted, pushed to their limits.
Protests in Serbia 🇷🇸 are heading for a breaking point. The government can't hold this out much longer.
Protests in Serbia 🇷🇸 are heating up.
Following a week of intense protests, street blockades and police repression across the country, president Vucic took to Instagram tonight, basically begging the students to stop.
"I plead to you as a father, go home."
