A peaceful student protest in Belgrade escalated into a series of violent incidents late Friday, after demonstrators attempted to approach Pionirski Park and the Serbian National Assembly. Police intervened multiple times, using tear gas, detaining protesters, and physically pushing the crowd away toward Knez Miloš Street and the London intersection, local media reported.
According to independent news agency FoNet, riot police deployed tear gas around 10:19 p.m. near the London intersection on Knez Miloš Street, after initially trying to disperse the crowd with a cordon. Clashes also occurred on King Alexander Boulevard, near the Czech Embassy, where part of the student blockade allegedly threw flares and explosive devices at officers. Police responded by pushing demonstrators back toward St. Mark’s Church.
Additional gendarmerie vehicles, including armored Humvees, were seen arriving at the scene, eyewitnesses reported.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić responded on Instagram, accusing the protesters of attempting to “topple the state” during the national Vidovdan holiday. “They wanted to destroy Serbia. They failed. Long live Serbia,” Vučić wrote, alongside a photo of himself holding the national flag.
Interior Minister Ivica Dačić strongly condemned what he described as “brutal attacks” on police by participants in the unauthorized protest.
“The police will take all necessary measures to restore public order, repel any attacks, and arrest those responsible,” Dačić said in a statement.
The violence followed a day of heightened tension as students who have been blocking university faculties, joined by supporters, gathered at Slavija Square to demand new elections and the disbanding of an alternative pro-government student rally in Pionirski Park.
Speaker of Parliament Ana Brnabić accused the demonstrators of inciting unrest. “They didn’t end the protest with ‘Long live Serbia’, but with a chilling call to murder the country and start a civil war,” Brnabić wrote on social media platform X. “Remember this, Serbia,” she added.
Brnabić also claimed that Croatian media outlets had shown coordinated support for the protests. “Croatian media began their propaganda campaign an hour before the protest started. It’s clear that Croatia’s strategic goal is to see Vučić removed,” she wrote, referencing an editorial in Zagreb’s Jutarnji list titled ‘Frightened Weakling Vučić Becomes Increasingly Dangerous’.
Despite the unrest, the Serbian government maintained that law and order would be upheld and political stability preserved.