Dozens detained after Serbian riot police and anti-government protesters clash

Dozens of anti-government demonstrators were detained during clashes with riot police in the capital of Serbia on Saturday during a massive rally against populist president Aleksandar Vucic demanding an early parliamentary election.

The demonstration of tens of thousands of people took place after almost eight months of persistent dissent led by university students from Serbia who rocked the firm grip of Vucic on power in the country of the Balkans.

The huge crowd sang: “We want elections!” As they filled the central Slavija square in the capital and several houses around him, many unable to reach the place.

Police handcuffed demonstrators and an officer was seen injured on the ground during the street battles in the center of Belgrade which lasted several hours. Six police officers and an unknown number of citizens were injured, police said.

“Serbia is still winning at the end,” said Vucic in an Instagram post.

Vucic, a former extreme nationalist, has become more and more authoritarian since coming to power over ten years ago. Although he officially says that he wants Serbia to join the European Union, criticisms say that Vucic has smothered democratic freedoms when he strengthened links with Russia and China.

While the demonstration officially ended, the demonstrators launched eggs, plastic bottles and other riot police objects, which prevented the crowd from approaching a city center park. Hundreds of Loyalists of Vucic have been camping in the park for months to form a human shield in front of its head office in the capital.

The Serbian Minister Ivica Dacic said that participants in the demonstration had attacked the police. He said the police used their powers to restore public order and “stop all those who attacked the police.”

The police later said that dozens of “hooligans” had been detained but had not provided the exact number.

Some demonstrators wore scarves and masks on their faces as they collided with the application of laws, using trash cans as protection against the police brandishing the stick. The agents used peppery gas before pushing the demonstrators with their shields.

Tensions were raised before and during the rally while the riot police deployed around government buildings.

“The elections are a clear way to get out of the social crisis caused by the acts of the government, which is undoubtedly against the interests of their own people,” said a student who did not give him his name when he was addressed to the crowd from a scene. “Today, on June 28, 2025, we declare the current illegitimate authorities.”

University students play a key role

At the end of the official game of the rally, the students told the crowd to “take freedom in your hands”.

University students were a key strength on the national anti-corruption demonstrations which started after the collapse of a renovated railway canopy, killing 16 people on November 1.

Many have blamed the concrete roof accident on the corruption and negligence of the rampant government in state infrastructure projects, leading to recurrent mass manifestations.

“We are here today because we can no longer bear it,” said student Darko Kovacevic. “It has been going on for too long. We are mired in corruption.”

The President and his right -wing Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly refused the anticipated voting request and accused demonstrators of having planned to stimulate violence on the orders of the foreigner, which they did not specify or testified.

Vucic authorities have launched a repression against the striking universities of Serbia and other adversaries, while increasing the pressure on the independent media while they were trying to slow down the manifestations.

While the figures have decreased in recent weeks, the massive performance for the anti-vuacy rally on Saturday suggested that the resolution persists, despite incessant pressure and after almost eight months of almost daily demonstrations.

Serbian police, firmly controlled by the Vucic government, said 36,000 people were present at the start of the demonstration on Saturday. An independent surveillance group that records public rallies said that around 140,000 people attended the rally.

Saturday was Saint-Vitus, a religious holiday and the date on which the Serbs mark a 14th century battle against the Ottoman Turks in Kosovo which was the beginning of hundreds of Turkish domination, having symbolic importance.

Some of the speakers of the student rally spoke of the theme, which was also used to fuel Serbian nationalism in the 1990s which then led to incentive to ethnic wars after the rupture of the former Yugoslavia.

Vucic supporters are bus to Belgrade

A few hours before the students led by the students, the Vucic group has made bus in dozens of its own supporters for Belgrade for other parts of the country, many bearing t-shirts by reading: “We will not give up Serbia.” They joined a Loyalists in Vucic camp in the center of Belgrade, where they have been staying in tents since mid-March.

In a show as usual, Vucic has awarded presidential prices in the capital to the people he deemed worthy, including artists and journalists. “People do not need to worry-the state will be defended and the thugs will be in court,” he told journalists on Saturday.

Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2027.

Earlier this week, police arrested several people accused of having pretended to overthrow the government and prohibited entry into the country, without explanation, to several people of Croatia and theater director of Montenegro.

The Serbia railway company interrupted the train service for a threat of alleged bomb in what criticisms said they were an apparent offer to prevent people from going to Belgrade for the rally.

The authorities made similar movements in March, before the largest anti -government demonstration in the Balkan country, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people.