Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic promised a “strong” response to anti -corruption demonstrators on Sunday, after five consecutive evenings of clashes between his supporters, the police and the protesters throughout the country. Violence broke out in Belgrade and in other cities during five days of demonstrations, demonstrators launching stones and pyrotechnic machines to the police who replied with deafening grenades and tear gas.
More than 130 police officers have hitherto been injured, and dozens of civilians needed medical care, said nationalist president Aleksandar Vucic at a press conference in Belgrade. On Saturday, clashes broke out in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Valjevo, where a small group of masked men attacked and set fire to the locals, empty at that time, of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of Aleksandar Vucic.
“You will see full determination of the Serbian State”
“You will see the whole determination of the Serbian state. We will use everything at our disposal to restore law, order and peace, “said the president. He added that the government needed a few days to prepare “the legal and formal framework” of its response. “It will be very different from what you have seen so far,” he said, stressing that a proclamation of the state of emergency was not envisaged.
Aleksandar Vucic compared the protesters to “terrorists”, a term which he has often used since the start in 2024 of the anti -corruption protest movement. The demonstrations have been regular in this Balkan country since the collapse in November 2024 of a concrete awning at Novi Sad station (North). The tragedy, which had left 16 dead, was quickly attributed to corruption by the demonstrators.
Demonstrators violated by supporters of power
The demands of the demonstrators, who requested a transparent investigation, expanded, with a call for early elections. The demonstrations were generally peaceful, but the situation deteriorated this week when groups of supporters of power, often masked, attacked the protesters.
Videos broadcast online showed police officers hitting disarmed demonstrators with batons, while the police rejected accusations of violence, saying that demonstrators had attacked police. Aleksandar Vucic rejects calls to early elections and denounces demonstrations as part of a foreign plot aimed at overthrowing it.