site.btaBelgrade Authorities Abandon New Year’s Celebrations Over Security Concerns

Authorities in Belgrade have announced that they will not organize New Year’s celebrations due to security concerns, local media report.

“I do not want to put children at risk. Last year we had an event in the square where a group of people tried to start clashes, but security and the police stopped them,” said Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapić in an interview with Serbian national television RTS.

The 2025 New Year celebrations were held in Belgrade in Republic Square two months after 16 people died when a concrete canopy of a recently renovated railway station in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad collapsed.

Some citizens, led by students demanding that authorities be held accountable for the deadly incident, boycotted the celebration.

They held a protest through the streets of the Serbian capital, marking the end of the old year silently and welcoming the new one.

The central Republic Square, in front of the National Theatre in Belgrade, has traditionally been the place where New Year’s is celebrated with music, drinks, and fireworks for decades, recalls the Serbian edition of Radio Free Europe.

Just meters away from the square is Caciland - a tent camp built by supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and President Aleksandar Vucic.

The first tents in Caciland were occupied by students who opposed the actions of their peers, who had blocked more than 60 university faculties across the country in solidarity with the families of the 16 victims from Novi Sad. Later, Serbs from Kosovo, former military personnel, and elderly citizens joined Caciland.