Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Serbia, smashing windows of the governing party’s headquarters in the northern city of Novi Sad, where the country’s antigovernment revolt started more than nine months ago.
The protesters came out in force for a third night on Thursday, following major clashes earlier in the week that saw dozens detained or injured, demanding that President Aleksandar Vucic call an early election.
In Novi Sad, where a train station canopy collapsed last year, killing 16 people and creating public anger over alleged corruption in infrastructure projects, protesters attacked the offices of the governing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), carrying away furniture and documents, and splashing paint on the entrance.
“He is finished,” they shouted, with reference to the president as they demolished the offices. The police and Vucic’s supporters, who have guarded the office in Serbia’s second-largest city for months, were nowhere to be seen.
In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, hundreds of protesters and SNS supporters threw flares and firecrackers at each other on one of the city’s main boulevards. Police fired tear gas at least two locations to disperse the protesters and keep the opposing camps apart.
Similar protests were held in towns across the country.
Vucic told pro-government Informer television that “the state will win” as he announced a crackdown on antigovernment protesters, accusing them of inciting violence and of being “enemies of their own country”.
“I think it is clear they did not want peace and Gandhian protests. There will be more arrests,” he said during the broadcast.
He reiterated earlier claims that the protests have been organised from abroad, offering no evidence.
The previous night, there were gatherings at some 90 locations in the country, according to Interior Minister Ivica Dacic the following day.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that 47 people were arrested in Wednesday’s clashes, with about 80 civilians and 27 police officers left injured.
The EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said on X that the reports of violence were “deeply concerning”.
“Advancing on the EU path requires citizens can express their views freely and journalists can report without intimidation or attacks,” Kos said on X.
The Serbian president denies allegations of allowing organised crime and corruption to flourish in the country, which is a candidate for European Union membership.
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