site.btaProtests in Serbia Leave 80 Citizens, 25 Police Officers Injured on Wednesday - Interior Minister Dacic

During incidents and clashes at Wednesday night's protests in Serbia, 80 citizens and 25 police officers were injured, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Ivica Dacic said, as quoted by RTS.

The protests took place in five locations in Belgrade and several Serbian cities at the call of students, and clashes broke out between demonstrators and supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), with the SNS office in Novi Sad set on fire in the late hours of Wednesday.

SNS leader Milos Vucevic, who is originally from Novi Sad, told Tanjug that the situation in the northern Serbian city was now good, but that the night had been dramatic and tense. 

Wednesday night's protests were organised in response to clashes on August 12 between citizens and SNS supporters in Vrbas and Backa Palanka, towns located in the autonomous Serbian province of Vojvodina.

"There were also massive attacks, mostly on SNS party premises. The most difficult situation was in Novi Sad, partly in Belgrade, but there were also attacks in Kraljevo, Lazarevac, Pancevo and other places," Dacic said, adding that all those who attacked police officers would be arrested within 48 hours.

Dacic noted that on Wednesday night, there were gatherings of people in 90 locations in the country. He called on citizens to stop attacks against political parties and citizens who support the Government. He specified that in some cities, the offices of the Socialist Party of Serbia, which he heads and which is in coalition with the SNS, were also attacked.

Serbian National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabic wrote on X: "Imagine, people did not allow to be killed, burned alive, their house to be destroyed. And when you defend yourselves, if you ask the fascist blockades and their media enablers, you are guilty of causing violence, because there would have been less violence if you had just let them kill you." 

On Wednesday night, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic appeared among SNS supporters in Belgrade and congratulated them for their courage to defend the State and party property. Later in the night, Vucic again made a statement and said that the citizens of Serbia had experienced a difficult night and that a civil war had been averted. "‘By some miracle, we managed to keep the peace," Vucic said.

Protesting students said on their Instagram account after Wednesday's unrest that the Government tried to provoke a civil war through clashes.

After the tragedy in the northern Serbian town of Novi Sad in November 2024, when 16 people died as the concrete canopy of the recently renovated railway station collapsed, a wave of social discontent swept across the country. Students blockaded more than 60 faculties across the country and spearheaded the spontaneous protests that had already emerged, accusing the Government and the President of corruption and nepotism.

During the protest of many thousands in Belgrade on June 28, a significant date laden with historical symbolism for Serbs, students called for early parliamentary elections and demanded that citizens support them by participating in various forms of civil disobedience.

The months-long protests in Serbia have become the biggest challenge facing President Aleksandar Vucic. The street pressure led to the resignation of the Government, but the ruling coalition managed to elect a new cabinet and for the first time since the beginning of the democratic changes, the country has a non-party prime minister with no political experience.