site.btaProtesters, Vucic Supporters Clash in Serbian Capital

Protesters and supporters of the ruling party in Serbia clashed on Sunday in front of the parliament building in Belgrade before the police intervened and separated them with a cordon.

The series of incidents occurred less than 24 hours after commemorative events marking the anniversary of the collapse of the canopy at the railway station in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, when 16 people were killed and one was seriously injured.

Tension began in the early afternoon in the Serbian capital when the two groups gathered in front of the parliament. The first incident occurred then – the police pushed the protesters back, but they regrouped at a nearby junction.

As night fell, pyrotechnics and bottles were thrown from the camp of the supporters of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic towards the students and citizens who, on the morning of  November 2, had come to Belgrade to support the hunger strike of the mother of one of the 16 victims of the Novi Sad tragedy.

Diana Hrka stood in front of the National Assembly in Belgrade and announced that she would fight to the end, because one year on, no one has been convicted for the death of her son Stefan and the other 15 who died under the collapsed railway station canopy in Novi Sad. 

At the end of last November, students blocked over 60 university faculties across the country, and the protests grew into a mass movement.

The protesters believe the tragedy in Novi Sad was the result of corruption and negligence. Their demands for a transparent investigation and accountability escalated in May into a call for early elections, which President Aleksandar Vucic has refused to schedule.

At first, the protests were mostly peaceful, but in the summer they escalated into clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators, who accuse the police of brutality and excessive use of force.

On November 2, Hrka called on President Vucic to schedule early parliamentary elections and “come and look her in the eyes, instead of acting like a coward”.

As the night progressed, more people joined the initially small group that had arrived with Hrka from Novi Sad.

Opposition representatives appeared in front of the parliament and expressed support for Hrka, calling on people to take to the streets and fight for their freedom.

Students involved in the faculty blockades appealed to people not to respond to provocations from supporters of the ruling party.

Some citizens engaged in verbal confrontations with riot police officers and urged them to remove their special gear.

Vucic called for calm and de-escalation.

He told the private broadcaster Pink that those “participating in blockades” had thrown stones, sticks, bottles and flares at people, set fire to a tent, and injured several individuals and a police officer.

Vucic also said that the organisers of the November 2 incidents were in contact with staff members of the US Embassy in Belgrade. “This is somewhat expected and not a surprise for us, for the state, because we monitor the contacts of those who seek to provoke chaos with certain foreign structures,” the Serbian President said.

Serbia’s Interior Ministry and the Security and Information Agency issued a joint statement condemning the incidents in central Belgrade “in the strongest possible terms”.

For the first time since the start of the anti-government protests, Vucic has directed criticism at US diplomats.

Earlier in the day, he once again stated that he would call early parliamentary elections, but did not commit to a specific date.