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Fox News
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Mass anti-corruption protests put strain on close European ally of Russia
Student-led protests pose the gravest threat to Serbian strongman Aleksandar Vucic's 14 years in power, with over 100,000 taking to the streets of Belgrade and cities across Serbia, calling out systemic corruption throughout the government. March 15 saw what many believe to be the largest crowds in Serbia's recent history, with an estimated 300,000 people marching in the center of Belgrade. Serbian President Vucic, who remains close to Russia, has remained defiant, ignoring calls to step down and accusing the protest movement of planning violent attacks and stoking a civil war. "Moscow and Belgrade pledged to combat color revolutions together in 2021. This is dangerous as Russia can provide Serbia with intelligence support," Ivana Stradner, research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. "Vucic is hoping that protests in Serbia will stop, but they are growing increasingly," Stradner added. Vucic accused the students of orchestrating a Western-backed "colored revolution" and compared the movement to the 2014 Euromaidan Revolution in Ukraine, when the pro-Russian president of Ukraine was ousted from power for seeking closer ties with Vladimir Putin over Europe. Nongovernmental and civil society organizations accuse the government of using illegal weapons, including long-range acoustic devices (LRAD), a common crowd control device that can cause severe hearing damage, during a commemorative silence for the victims of the Novi Sad railway collapse in November. "The Belgrade Center for Security Policy strongly condemns the unlawful and inhumane deployment of prohibited weapons, such as acoustic devices, against peaceful protesters during a public gathering of hundreds of thousands of citizens paying tribute to victims of the collapsed roof in Novi Sad," the group said in a statement. Serbia's foreign minister, Marko Djuric, denied the allegations in a post on X. "Serbia categorically denies the baseless accusations that any illegal weapons, including so-called 'sound cannons,' were used against demonstrators in Belgrade," Djuric said. President Vucic also denied the claims, calling it "a vile lie" in an address to the nation and promised to investigate the matter. The protests consuming Serbia didn't just happen overnight and have been sustained for months. Tens of thousands of college students have been marching since December, demanding justice and accountability after the deaths of 15 people in the collapse of a railway station in the Serbian town of Novi Sad. The canopy at the railway station collapsed Nov. 1 after renovations led by two Chinese companies. What originally started as spontaneous protests voicing dissatisfaction with the government's failed response to the railway catastrophe transformed into a movement opposing widespread corruption and the erosion of the rule of law under Vucic. "It's also important to recognize that the cause of the protests runs deeper — many people perceive the state as corrupt and are broadly dissatisfied with Vučić's government. They are calling for greater press freedom and accountability," Helena Ivanov, senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Institute, told Fox News Digital. Ivanov said that the government's attempts to mitigate the situation, such as arresting individuals involved in corrupt deals from years ago or the resignation of the prime minister in January, have been seen as too little, too late by the protesters and opposition politicians. Many experts and observers of the Balkans were disappointed in the Biden administration's regional policy, claiming that the administration appeased the Vucic regime and refused to call out his antidemocratic practices. The efforts to sway Vucic and maintain close ties to Belgrade were seen as integral to the Serbia-Kosovo normalization process and their path toward European Union ascension. A former high-ranking diplomat with expert knowledge of the Balkans told Fox News Digital that Vucic wrongly portrays the protesters as inspired and led by the "globalist elite," hoping to gain the attention and support of President Trump. If President Trump wants a quick, cheap win for him and the U.S. in the Balkans, the diplomat said Trump should shift the U.S. regional posture from appeasing Vucic to containing him. Such a posture in Serbia will show that the U.S. is not kidding in the Balkans and wants a peaceful solution to simmering conflicts while utilizing the "peace through strength" doctrine.
Arab News
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Serbian officials deny illegal sonic weapon attack on peaceful protesters
BELGRADE: Serbian officials denied Sunday that security forces used a military-grade sonic weapon to disperse and scare protesters at a huge anti-government rally in the capital. Opposition officials and Serbian rights groups claimed the widely banned acoustic weapon that emits a targeted beam to temporarily incapacitate people was used during the protest Saturday. They say they will file charges with the European Court of Human Rights and domestic courts against those who ordered the attack. Serbia has not denied that it has the acoustic device in its arsenal. At least 100,000 people descended on Belgrade on Saturday for a mass rally seen as a culmination of monthslong protests against Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government. The rally was part of a nationwide anti-corruption movement that erupted after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Serbia's north in November, killing 15 people. Almost daily demonstrations that started in response to the tragedy have shaken Vucic's decade-long firm grip on power in Serbia where many blame the crash on rampant government corruption, negligence and disrespect of construction safety regulations, demanding accountability for the victims. Footage from the rally show people standing during 15 minutes of silence for the rail station disaster while suddenly experiencing a whooshing sound that immediately triggered panic and a brief stampede. An Associated Press photographer at the scene said people started scrambling for cover, leaving the middle of the downtown street almost empty as they started falling over each other. Those exposed to the weapon experience sharp ear pain, disorientation and panic, military experts say. Prolonged exposure can cause eardrum ruptures and irreversible hearing damage. The Belgrade Center for Security Policy, a non-governmental organization, condemned 'the unlawful and inhumane deployment of prohibited weapons, such as acoustic devices, against peaceful protesters.' 'This act represents a blatant display of force and an attempt to incite chaos, aiming to delegitimize protests and criminalize peaceful citizens,' the group said. Serbian police and the defense ministry denied that the illegal weapon was used. The Serbian president on Sunday urged judicial authorities to respond to the information 'that sonic cannons were used during the protests,' the state RTS broadcaster reported. 'I am asking … the ministry of justice and the prosecutor's office to react, either to prosecute those who used it, and we know they didn't but let's check,' Vucic said. 'Let there be a proceeding but then they should also prosecute those who went public with such a notorious lie.' Belgrade's emergency hospital has denied reports that many people sought help after the incident and urged legal action against those who 'spread untrue information.'
