Dozens injured and detained as violence spirals at anti-government protests in Serbia
- - Dozens injured and detained as violence spirals at anti-government protests in Serbia
August 14, 2025 at 10:57 PM
1 / 4Serbia ProtestsSerbian gendarmerie officers separate protesters from the opposing camps during an anti-government protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Nearly 50 protesters have been detained across Serbia and dozens of people were injured as violence erupted this week between opponents and supports of the government following more than nine months of largely peaceful demonstrations against the populist rule of President Aleksandar Vucic, police said on Thursday.
Unrest on Wednesday broke out in the northern city of Novi Sad when supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party threw flares at anti-government protesters who had been marching past the party offices, according to video from the scene. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said there were gatherings at some 90 locations in the country on Wednesday evening.
At the clashes in Novi Sad, rival groups hurled rock and bottles at each other amid clouds of smoke and chaos. An army security officer at the SNS party offices at one point fired his gun in the air, saying later he felt his life had been in danger.
The incidents marked an escalation in protests led by university students that have rattled Vucic’s increasingly autocratic rule in Serbia, a candidate nation for European Union membership.
Similar clashes were also reported on Tuesday evening.
The EU's Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said on X that reports of violence are “deeply concerning.”
“Advancing on the EU path requires citizens can express their views freely and journalists can report without intimidation or attacks,” Kos added.
The Serbian president has faced accusations of stifling democratic freedoms and of allowing organized crime and corruption to flourish. He denies those allegations.
Skirmishes also erupted in the capital Belgrade where riot police used tear gas to disperse groups of protesters. Riot police formed a cordon around a makeshift camp of Vucic's loyalists outside the presidency building downtown.
Dacic, the interior minister, accused the protesters of attacking governing party loyalists. He said “those who broke the law will be identified and sanctioned.”
University students posted on X to accuse the authorities of trying to “provoke a civil war with the clashes” at demonstrations. The rallies so far passed for the most part without incident even while drawing hundreds of thousands of people.
Occasional violence in the past months mostly involved incidents between protesters and the police, rather than between rival groups.
“Police were guarding the regime loyalists who were throwing rocks and firing flares at the protesters," a post by the informal group, Students in Blockade, said. The account is run by students from across Serbia who have been protesting the government since late last year.
Demonstrations started in November after a renovated train station canopy crashed in Novi Sad, killing 16 people and triggering accusations of corruption in state-run infrastructure projects. More protests are planned on Thursday evening.
The protesters are demanding that Vucic call an early parliamentary election, which he has refused to do. Serbia is formally seeking EU membership, but Vucic has maintained strong ties with Russia and China.
Source: “AOL AOL General News”
