Protesters and supporters of the ruling party in Serbia clashed on Sunday in front of the parliament building in Belgrade before the police intervened and separated them with a cordon.
The series of incidents occurred less than 24 hours after commemorative events marking the anniversary of the collapse of the canopy at the railway station in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, when 16 people were killed and one was seriously injured.
Tension began in the early afternoon in the Serbian capital when the two groups gathered in front of the parliament. The first incident occurred then – the police pushed the protesters back, but they regrouped at a nearby junction.
As night fell, pyrotechnics and bottles were thrown from the camp of the supporters of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic towards the students and citizens who, on the morning of November 2, had come to Belgrade to support the hunger strike of the mother of one of the 16 victims of the Novi Sad tragedy.
Diana Hrka stood in front of the National Assembly in Belgrade and announced that she would fight to the end, because one year on, no one has been convicted for the death of her son Stefan and the other 15 who died under the collapsed railway station canopy in Novi Sad.
At the end of last November, students blocked over 60 university faculties across the country, and the protests grew into a mass movement.
The protesters believe the tragedy in Novi Sad was the result of corruption and negligence. Their demands for a transparent investigation and accountability escalated in May into a call for early elections, which President Aleksandar Vucic has refused to schedule.
At first, the protests were mostly peaceful, but in the summer they escalated into clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators, who accuse the police of brutality and excessive use of force.
On November 2, Hrka called on President Vucic to schedule early parliamentary elections and “come and look her in the eyes, instead of acting like a coward”.
As the night progressed, more people joined the initially small group that had arrived with Hrka from Novi Sad.
Opposition representatives appeared in front of the parliament and expressed support for Hrka, calling on people to take to the streets and fight for their freedom.
Students involved in the faculty blockades appealed to people not to respond to provocations from supporters of the ruling party.
Some citizens engaged in verbal confrontations with riot police officers and urged them to remove their special gear.
Vucic called for calm and de-escalation.
He told the private broadcaster Pink that those “participating in blockades” had thrown stones, sticks, bottles and flares at people, set fire to a tent, and injured several individuals and a police officer.
Vucic also said that the organisers of the November 2 incidents were in contact with staff members of the US Embassy in Belgrade. “This is somewhat expected and not a surprise for us, for the state, because we monitor the contacts of those who seek to provoke chaos with certain foreign structures,” the Serbian President said.
Serbia’s Interior Ministry and the Security and Information Agency issued a joint statement condemning the incidents in central Belgrade “in the strongest possible terms”.
For the first time since the start of the anti-government protests, Vucic has directed criticism at US diplomats.
Earlier in the day, he once again stated that he would call early parliamentary elections, but did not commit to a specific date. Protesters, Vucic Supporters Clash in Serbian Capital THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2025-11-03 07:11:47 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
