Latest news with #SerbianProgressiveParty
Euractiv
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
New blockades and new provocations in Serbia
The barricades are multiplying in Serbia, while President Aleksandar Vučić has chosen to inflame tensions further by pardoning members of his party accused of assaulting a student. For the sixth time since students launched their campaign of civil disobedience last Saturday, dozens of roadblocks were erected last night in Belgrade and other cities such as Niš and Novi Sad, before being dismantled by police. "The police are on high alert" to protect "vital points" in the Serbian capital, explained Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić this morning. According to the authorities, 19 people were arrested overnight. Nearly 80 people were detained the previous evening, and clashes broke out following the 28 June demonstration, during which 140,000 people marched through the streets of Belgrade demanding snap parliamentary elections. In a message posted on Instagram yesterday, Vučić urged protesters 'not to destroy' Serbia, once again implying that the protest movement was being encouraged by mysterious actors 'from outside' the country. There is little chance, however, that such appeals for calm will persuade demonstrators – especially given that the president has simultaneously pardoned four Serbian Progressive Party supporters who had been prosecuted for attacking student anti-government protesters in Novi Sad in January. Following the incident, then-Prime Minister Miloš Vučević was forced to resign and was replaced in April by Đuro Macut, a medical doctor with no prior political experience, but who retained most of his predecessor's cabinet. After a prolonged silence, European Commissioner for Enlargement, Slovenian Marta Kos, said yesterday that she was 'closely monitoring reports of excessive use of force against protesters in Serbia'. These accusations were swiftly dismissed by former Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, now speaker of the National Assembly, who responded that she knew 'what the excessive use of force looks like', posting videos of police operations in Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Students have been challenging the Serbian authorities and denouncing official corruption ever since the roof of Novi Sad's recently renovated railway station collapsed on 1 November 2024, killing 16 people. The tragedy, which followed a high-profile but rushed reconstruction project, came to symbolise broader public anger over cronyism, poor infrastructure oversight, and the perceived impunity of those in power. (aw)
Reuters
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Serbian police detain 79 people in crackdown on protests
BELGRADE, July 3 (Reuters) - Serbian police detained 79 protesters late on Wednesday in a crackdown on street demonstrators calling for a snap election and an end of the 12-year rule of the President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party. Police and protesters clashed in the capital Belgrade and the cities of Novi Sad, Nis and Novi Pazar, the interior ministry said in the statement on Thursday. Months of protests across Serbia, including university shutdowns, have rattled Vucic, a former ultranationalist who converted to the cause of European Union membership in 2008. His second term ends in 2027, when parliamentary elections are also scheduled. The protesters launched blockades of major junctions and roads in Belgrade and other towns across Serbia on Sunday over the arrest of activists when police and demonstrators clashed at a big opposition rally on Saturday. On Wednesday evening, police moved to remove students in front of the entrance of the Law Faculty in Belgrade, and briefly detained dozens, N1 TV reported. Oliver Stojkovic, a professor at the medical faculty, told Fonet news agency that four students had been injured in the police action and taken to hospital. "This (the police action) is an absolute violation of human rights and a violation of the freedom of the university," Bozo Prelevic, a former interior minister, told Reuters. The U.N. human rights office said on X it was "closely monitoring situation after reports of violence, harassment & arbitrary detention of protesters" and urged authorities to exercise restraint. Vucic's opponents accuse him and his allies of ties to organised crime, violence against rivals and curbing media freedoms. Vucic denies the accusations. Protests by students, opposition, teachers, workers and farmers began last December after 16 people died on November 1 in a Novi Sad railway station roof collapse. Protesters blame corruption for the disaster.
The Star
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Serbian police detain 79 people in crackdown on protests
Law enforcement officers try to remove a woman from the street during road blockades organised by students and anti-government demonstrators demanding snap elections and release of arrested protestors, in Belgrade, Serbia, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Hamzagic BELGRADE (Reuters) -Serbian police detained 79 protesters late on Wednesday in a crackdown on street demonstrators calling for a snap election and an end of the 12-year rule of the President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party. Police and protesters clashed in the capital Belgrade and the cities of Novi Sad, Nis and Novi Pazar, the interior ministry said in the statement on Thursday. Months of protests across Serbia, including university shutdowns, have rattled Vucic, a former ultranationalist who converted to the cause of European Union membership in 2008. His second term ends in 2027, when parliamentary elections are also scheduled. The protesters launched blockades of major junctions and roads in Belgrade and other towns across Serbia on Sunday over the arrest of activists when police and demonstrators clashed at a big opposition rally on Saturday. On Wednesday evening, police moved to remove students in front of the entrance of the Law Faculty in Belgrade, and briefly detained dozens, N1 TV reported. Oliver Stojkovic, a professor at the medical faculty, told Fonet news agency that four students had been injured in the police action and taken to hospital. "This (the police action) is an absolute violation of human rights and a violation of the freedom of the university," Bozo Prelevic, a former interior minister, told Reuters. The U.N. human rights office said on X it was "closely monitoring situation after reports of violence, harassment & arbitrary detention of protesters" and urged authorities to exercise restraint. Vucic's opponents accuse him and his allies of ties to organised crime, violence against rivals and curbing media freedoms. Vucic denies the accusations. Protests by students, opposition, teachers, workers and farmers began last December after 16 people died on November 1 in a Novi Sad railway station roof collapse. Protesters blame corruption for the disaster. (Reporting by Ivana SekularacEditing by Ros Russell)
Euractiv
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
Serbian protests escalate as students demand early vote
Serbia's protest movement has entered a new phase of defiance, with nationwide roadblocks disrupting traffic for three consecutive days as citizens demand snap parliamentary elections. Following a demonstration reportedly bringing together more than 140,000 people in central Belgrade on Saturday, student representatives declared the government 'illegitimate' and issued an "ultimatum": call snap elections by 9 pm that night. The deadline passed without a response, and clashes with police ensued, resulting in injuries on both sides. Just a few hours later, the Gazela motorway bridge, the main arteries of Belgrade, and all major access routes to the Serbian capital were blocked by spontaneously erected barricades. The movement then spread across the rest of the country from Sunday to Monday night, before police began dismantling the blockades in the morning. Vučić on Monday dismissed the blockades as 'terrorist activity." The statement has done little to slow the protest movement, which is organising through social media and advocating for mobile barricades while avoiding direct confrontation with police. By Tuesday, disruptions were ongoing in Zemun, Savski Venac, and across several other parts of the capital, according to an interactive map updated by the demonstrators. Offices of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) have also been targeted with rubbish. Last January, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević was forced to resign after SNS activists violently attacked students. But the new cabinet appointed in April has largely recycled ministers who were already in office. Students have been challenging Serbia's highly authoritarian President, Aleksandar Vučić, and denouncing official corruption ever since the roof of Novi Sad's recently renovated railway station collapsed on 1 November 2024, killing 16 people. The Russians are back As is often the case when protests catch the Serbian authorities off guard, Vučić has been able to count on a small boost from the Kremlin. Over the weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the West against instigating a 'colour revolution' in Serbia. That statement came despite last month's diplomatic spat, when Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused Belgrade of exporting arms to Ukraine through third countries. On Monday, Vučić did not fail to thank his 'Russian friends' for their understanding, just after he announced the 'suspension' of all Serbian arms exports abroad. Whether or not the idea of a Western-backed colour revolution bears any resemblance to reality is beside the point. The Serbian regime enjoys the support of Paris, Berlin, and Brussels – all of whom are wary of fresh instability in the Balkans. If this was not enough, Vučić ultimately knows how to turn to the East whenever pressure builds at home. (mm)
Morocco World
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
140,000 Protestors Descend on Belgrade to Oppose Serbia's Populist Government
Rabat – Around 140,000 anti-government protestors clashed with the police in the Serbian capital city of Belgrade, on Saturday. This is the largest protest since the student-led demonstrations began in November. The demonstrators were protesting against the populist government led by the Serbian Progressive Party. They oppose what they see as corruption and ineptitude since the party came to power in 2012. Students began protesting in November, after a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad killing 16 people – an event that was largely blamed on the government's failures. Saturday's protests took place in Belgrade's largest square and the streets surrounding the national parliament. The Independent Protest Monitor estimated that around 140,000 people were in attendance. The protestors chanted 'We want elections!' while Serbian flags and holding banners bearing the names of cities and towns throughout the country. According to reports, police fired tear gas and stun grenades at the protestors in response while the demonstrators retaliated with flares. Students have been calling for snap-elections and the President Aleksander Vucic to resign. The president was presented with an ultimatum with demands, which the president rejected. Vucic, according to adjacent government sources, will address the nation on Sunday night and he posted a video of himself condemning the protests. This has just been part of a larger crackdown in recent weeks against demonstrators. Earlier this month municipality elections showed that public support for the Serbian Progressive Party is on the decline and that an opposition coalition has been strengthening against Vucic. This sets the stage for a political showdown in the eastern margins of the Schengen Zone.
