Latest news with #AnaBrnabic
3 days ago
- Politics
Police clash with anti-government protesters in Serbia over student expulsion
BELGRADE, Serbia -- Protesters clashed with police on Tuesday in a southwestern Serbian town following the reported forced expulsion of a group of students from a faculty building where they had been camping for months as part of nationwide anti-government demonstrations. Hundreds of protesters in Novi Pazar chanted slogans against Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic and demanded that the students be allowed to return to the building. Protesters threw bottles at police who responded with batons and shields. Police said in a statement they were attacked and acted with restraint while preserving public peace. Officers later withdrew as the students chanted 'victory.' The students alleged that the unidentified men who broke into the state university building between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Tuesday, with faculty officials, were members of a private security company in nearby Kraljevo. Videos of the alleged break in were posted on social media. Parliamentary speaker Ana Brnabic said the intervention was requested by the faculty management. Tensions are high in Novi Pazar, a multi-ethnic town some 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the capital Belgrade. There is a divide between Bosniak Muslims, who make up the majority of the population, and Serbs which stems from ethnic wars in the 1990s triggered by the breakup of former Yugoslavia. Student-led demonstrations first erupted in Serbia after the collapse of a concrete canopy collapse at a renovated train station killed 16 people in November. Many blamed the tragedy on alleged widespread corruption in state-run infrastructure projects. Vucic has stepped up pressure on universities to curb the . Most faculties in Serbia have restarted lectures and exams in recent weeks to avoid a study backlog but street protests persist, with protesters demanding snap parliamentary elections. A large student-led gathering in Novi Pazar in April was seen as an important step toward bridging the ethnic divide there.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Police clash with anti-government protesters in Serbia over student expulsion
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Protesters clashed with police on Tuesday in a southwestern Serbian town following the reported forced expulsion of a group of students from a faculty building where they had been camping for months as part of nationwide anti-government demonstrations. Hundreds of protesters in Novi Pazar chanted slogans against Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic and demanded that the students be allowed to return to the building. Protesters threw bottles at police who responded with batons and shields. Police said in a statement they were attacked and acted with restraint while preserving public peace. Officers later withdrew as the students chanted 'victory.' The students alleged that the unidentified men who broke into the state university building between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Tuesday, with faculty officials, were members of a private security company in nearby Kraljevo. Videos of the alleged break in were posted on social media. Parliamentary speaker Ana Brnabic said the intervention was requested by the faculty management. Tensions are high in Novi Pazar, a multi-ethnic town some 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the capital Belgrade. There is a divide between Bosniak Muslims, who make up the majority of the population, and Serbs which stems from ethnic wars in the 1990s triggered by the breakup of former Yugoslavia. Student-led demonstrations first erupted in Serbia after the collapse of a concrete canopy collapse at a renovated train station killed 16 people in November. Many blamed the tragedy on alleged widespread corruption in state-run infrastructure projects. Vucic has stepped up pressure on universities to curb the protests challenging his increasingly authoritarian rule. A large student-led gathering in Novi Pazar in April was seen as an important step toward bridging the ethnic divide there.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Police clash with anti-government protesters in Serbia over student expulsion
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Protesters clashed with police on Tuesday in a southwestern Serbian town following the reported forced expulsion of a group of students from a faculty building where they had been camping for months as part of nationwide anti-government demonstrations. Hundreds of protesters in Novi Pazar chanted slogans against Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic and demanded that the students be allowed to return to the building. Protesters threw bottles at police who responded with batons and shields. Police said in a statement they were attacked and acted with restraint while preserving public peace. Officers later withdrew as the students chanted 'victory.' The students alleged that the unidentified men who broke into the state university building between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Tuesday, with faculty officials, were members of a private security company in nearby Kraljevo. Videos of the alleged break in were posted on social media. Parliamentary speaker Ana Brnabic said the intervention was requested by the faculty management. Tensions are high in Novi Pazar, a multi-ethnic town some 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the capital Belgrade. There is a divide between Bosniak Muslims, who make up the majority of the population, and Serbs which stems from ethnic wars in the 1990s triggered by the breakup of former Yugoslavia. Student-led demonstrations first erupted in Serbia after the collapse of a concrete canopy collapse at a renovated train station killed 16 people in November. Many blamed the tragedy on alleged widespread corruption in state-run infrastructure projects. Vucic has stepped up pressure on universities to curb the protests challenging his increasingly authoritarian rule. Most faculties in Serbia have restarted lectures and exams in recent weeks to avoid a study backlog but street protests persist, with protesters demanding snap parliamentary elections. A large student-led gathering in Novi Pazar in April was seen as an important step toward bridging the ethnic divide there.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Police clash with anti-government protesters in Serbia over student expulsion
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Protesters clashed with police on Tuesday in a southwestern Serbian town following the reported forced expulsion of a group of students from a faculty building where they had been camping for months as part of nationwide anti-government demonstrations. Hundreds of protesters in Novi Pazar chanted slogans against Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic and demanded that the students be allowed to return to the building. Protesters threw bottles at police who responded with batons and shields. Police said in a statement they were attacked and acted with restraint while preserving public peace. Officers later withdrew as the students chanted 'victory.' The students alleged that the unidentified men who broke into the state university building between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Tuesday, with faculty officials, were members of a private security company in nearby Kraljevo. Videos of the alleged break in were posted on social media. Parliamentary speaker Ana Brnabic said the intervention was requested by the faculty management. Tensions are high in Novi Pazar, a multi-ethnic town some 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the capital Belgrade. There is a divide between Bosniak Muslims, who make up the majority of the population, and Serbs which stems from ethnic wars in the 1990s triggered by the breakup of former Yugoslavia. Student-led demonstrations first erupted in Serbia after the collapse of a concrete canopy collapse at a renovated train station killed 16 people in November. Many blamed the tragedy on alleged widespread corruption in state-run infrastructure projects. Vucic has stepped up pressure on universities to curb the protests challenging his increasingly authoritarian rule. Most faculties in Serbia have restarted lectures and exams in recent weeks to avoid a study backlog but street protests persist, with protesters demanding snap parliamentary elections. A large student-led gathering in Novi Pazar in April was seen as an important step toward bridging the ethnic divide there.
Russia Today
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Protesters in Belgrade calling for civil war
Speaker of the Serbian Parliament Ana Brnabic has accused anti-government protesters in Belgrade of calling for a civil war, after a student-led rally escalated into clashes with police. The latest unrest erupted on Saturday, after the authorities rejected an ultimatum from demonstrators demanding the dissolution of parliament and early elections. The protest coincided with Vidovdan, a national holiday marking Serbia's 1389 battle against the Ottoman Empire at Kosovo Field. In a post on X, Brnabic – who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2024 – shared a video from the protest's closing moments, in which an organizer tells the crowd to 'take freedom into your own hands.' 'They didn't end their gathering by shouting 'Long live Serbia.' They ended it with a chilling call to murder Serbia – a monstrous and open call for civil war,' Brnabic wrote. In a separate post, she accused neighboring Croatia of backing the unrest in an effort to unseat President Aleksandar Vucic. A wave of protests has gripped Serbia since the deadly collapse of a concrete canopy at a railway station in Novi Sad last November, which killed 16 people and triggered widespread public outrage and calls for accountability. Saturday's demonstration began peacefully but turned violent in the evening when some protesters began throwing eggs, bottles, and other objects at police near a downtown park where government supporters were holding a vigil. Officers responded with pepper spray and riot shields to disperse the crowd. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said six officers and two civilians were injured, and dozens of 'hooligans' were arrested. Speaking earlier at a Vidovdan ceremony, Vucic – who has repeatedly claimed that the protests are being instigated by foreign actors – called for national unity and urged restraint. 'Serbia always wins in the end,' he wrote on social media.
