Serbian President to Protesters: We Got the Message, We Need to Change

Valentin Evstatiev, BTA Correspondent Teodora Encheva

Hundreds of thousands of people swarm the streets of Belgrade to hold an anti-government rally. March 15, 2025 (BTA Photo/Emil Conkic)

Belgrade,

16.03.2025 18:17

(BTA)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic made a public statement on Saturday night after thousands of people staged an anti-government protest in Belgrade. It was one of many public demonstrations since last November's collapse of the canopy of the railway station in Novi Sad, which killed 15 people.

Vucic said: "We got the message, we need to change. But I hope some people have realized that the citizens do not want any colour revolutions. It is important for our children to go to school and the students to go back to their universities."

The protest in the Serbian capital was held on the initiative of students who have blocked over 60 university faculties across the country since November.

Vucic said the number of people taking part in Saturday's Belgrade rally was variously estimated at between 88,000 and 107,000. He said many of them came from the country's interior. An NGO specializing in monitoring public assemblies estimated the size of the crowd at 275,000 to 325,000. Both the NGO and the Serbian President noted that their data were not final.

Saturday's demonstration led to many clashes with police. The rally was cut short by its organizers after counter-protesters, who had built a camp in the Pioneer Park near the Presidency, began to throw stones. Serbian social media circulated a video showing protesters reacting to blows coming from the Pioneer Park and to the impact of sonic weapons used by police.

President Vucic described the allegations about the use of sonic cannon as "brazen". He said the police did not use even clubs; "they suffered and endured everything."

Vucic went on to say, however, that an unknown number of signal rockets were hurled at the Pioneer Park. "If someone says there was no violence – yes, there was a lot of it," he commented. More than 100 farmer tractors were damaged and destroyed, he added. The tractors had appeared surprisingly and cordoned off the counter-protesters' camp before the rally. Vucic said the cordon was intended to protect the lives of the people in the camp.

In his statement, the President said 56 people were injured in the clashes in Belgrade but there were no serious injuries. He added that a man who was feared to be in serious condition after an internal fight among protesters did not sustain any grave injuries and his life is out of danger. Twenty-two people were arrested for property offenses and assaults on police officers and other people, Vucic said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic thanked all employees of his ministry who maintained security during the rally, praising them for their professionalism, dedication and composure.

/VE/