site.btaTensions Rising between Ruling Party, Student Movement in Serbia, Two Opposing Rallies Planned for St. Vitus Day

Tensions are rising between the ruling party and supporters of the student movement in Serbia, who are organizing a rally and a counter-rally over the weekend, when the national holiday of Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day) will be celebrated, local media reported on Tuesday.

The ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) is gathering under the motto "We are one family" on June 27 in Belgrade, and the student movement's event will be held on June 28 in Kraljevo (Western Serbia) under the motto "Everything is visible on Vidovdan."

The SNS announced that their event is dedicated to national unity, family values, and the presentation of a new strategic plan for the economic development of Serbia.

"The most important thing is how we move towards the future, and in the future we must be united, not divided, as some wanted," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a video on one of his Instagram accounts, urging citizens to come to the Serbian parliament building on June 27. The visual highlight of the SNS rally will be the unfurling of a national flag of Serbia, over 500 metres long and weighing nearly one ton.

"We have something to show Lazar" is the symbolic subtitle that Serbian students are using in posts on social media before the protest scheduled for June 28, referencing the 1389 Battle of Kosovo between the troops of Serbian Prince Lazar and the troops of the Ottoman Empire on Vidovdan. 

The preparation for the two antagonistic events was marked by the actions of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, which launched an investigation into students and activists on suspicion that in January 2025, protesters held a meeting and drew up a plan to simulate being targeted by a sound weapon at the protest on March 15, 2025. On that day, thousands of people took to the streets at a mass anti-government rally to pay tribute to the 16 people who died when the canopy of the Novi Sad train station collapsed on November 1, 2024. Participants testified to an unusual sound and shock wave that forced them to run and hide.

For their part, the students described the investigation as "a series of lies and distractions."

On Monday, Serbian police searched the apartment and offices of military analyst Aleksandar Radic in connection with the "sonic weapon" case, arguing that he was one of the first to come forward with allegations of its illegal use against demonstrators.

On Tuesday, President Vucic commented that nothing special happened, no one was arrested, but the police will question everyone who, during the protest on March 15, 2025 and after it, appeared in the media with allegations that the Serbian Ministry of Interior and special services used sound weapons to disperse the demonstrators and violated the law. 

"The nervousness is great among those who tried to overthrow and destroy our State. There is nothing they will not do to confirm that everything they lied about is actually true. Nevertheless, the lies are collapsing like a house of cards, one after another. Our only task is to preserve peace, tolerance and show patience," Vucic said in his video address on Instagram.

On last year's Vidovdan, a protest organized by students issued an ultimatum to the government to propose to the President to call early parliamentary elections, but the ultimatum was rejected. Vucic appeared in the counter-protest camp and announced that his supporters had won.