Police clash with anti-government protesters in Serbia as thousands rally against president
Dozens of protesters were detained during clashes with riot police in Serbia on Saturday, as thousands demanded early parliamentary elections in a rally against populist President Aleksandar Vucic.
The protest was held after nearly eight months of dissent led by Serbia's university students and has been fuelled by allegations of corruption and negligence.
As they filled the capital's central Slavija Square, the crowd chanted "we want elections!".
Tensions were high before and during the gathering, with riot police deployed around government buildings and close to a camp of Vucic's loyalists in central Belgrade.
Police said dozens of 'hooligans' were detained but did not provide the exact number.
'Elections are a clear way out of the social crisis caused by the deeds of the government, which is undoubtedly against the interests of their own people,' one of the students, who didn't give her name, said to the crowd. 'Today, on June 28, 2025, we declare the current authorities illegitimate.'
At the end of the official part of the rally, students told the crowd to 'take freedom into your own hands.'
University students have been a key force behind nationwide anti-corruption demonstrations that started after a renovated rail station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people in November.
Many blamed the concrete roof crash on rampant government corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects, leading to recurring mass protests.
'We are here today because we cannot take it anymore,' student Darko Kovacevic said. 'This has been going on for too long. We are mired in corruption."
Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly refused the demand for an early vote and accused protesters of planning to spur violence on orders from abroad, which they didn't specify or provide evidence of.
Vucic's authorities have launched a crackdown on Serbia's striking universities and other opponents, while increasing pressure on independent media as they tried to curb the demonstrations.
While numbers have shrunk in recent weeks, the massive showing for Saturday's anti-Vucic rally suggested that the resolve persists, despite relentless pressure and after nearly eight months of almost daily protests.
Serbian police, which is firmly controlled by Vucic's government, said that 36,000 people were present at the start of the protest on Saturday.
Serbia's Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said participants in the protest attacked the police, and that police used their powers to restore public order.
Saturday marked St. Vitus Day, a religious holiday and the date when Serbs mark a 14th-century battle against Ottoman Turks in Kosovo that was the start of hundreds of years of Turkish rule, holding symbolic importance.
Vucic, a former extreme nationalist, has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power more than a decade ago.
Though he formally says he wants Serbia to join the European Union, critics say Vucic has stifled democratic freedoms as he strengthened ties with Russia and China.
Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2027.
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