Violence erupts during nationwide protests in Serbia (VIDEOS)
Violent clashes have broken out across Serbia between anti-government protesters and ruling party supporters, leaving dozens injured. The Balkan country has been wracked by unrest for months. Activists are demanding early parliamentary elections and accountability for the deadly collapse of a railway station canopy late last year.
The fiercest standoff took place on Wednesday in the city of Novi Sad, where protesters gathered around the office of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). The party’s supporters and protesters threw flares and other objects at each other, with demonstrators also smashing the building’s windows.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said 64 people were injured at the premises of SNS in Novi Sad alone. He claimed that the protesters “approached from the rear with sticks, cannon shots, [and] attacked,” adding that the pro-government activists “did not want to retreat, they were resisting the beaters and blockaders,” who he called “thugs.”
The president added that 16 police officers who intervened were also injured while accusing unnamed foreign powers of orchestrating the unrest. “Persons who violated the law will be apprehended... Tonight, we have averted a catastrophic scenario planned by someone from abroad,” he said.
The opposition Move-Change movement, however, accused pro-government activists of attacking protesters with pyrotechnic devices.
Similar scenes unfolded in the capital, Belgrade, where riot police deployed tear gas to disperse protesters near a park by the parliament building. Demonstrators were blocked from advancing further toward the SNS offices.
Clashes were also reported in Kraljevo, Kragujevac, Nis, and Cacak, with police moving to separate opposing sides in several towns.
The protests were ignited in November after a concrete canopy at the newly renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people, with protesters – which were mainly students – accusing the government of corruption and a cover-up. The demands later extended to education reforms and snap parliamentary elections.
Vucic has called the protesters “terrorists” who are seeking to “bring down the state,” suggesting that they have been acting under foreign influence.
Several Serbian ministers, including Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, resigned in the wake of the unrest. The government has published documents related to the canopy collapse.
