Tens of thousands of people from across Serbia are expected to participate in an anti-corruption rally in Belgrade, marking the climax of months of protests that have challenged the grip of the country’s autocratic president, Aleksandar Vučić. The atmosphere is tense as the president’s supporters have begun setting up camp in a park in front of the presidential palace. Earlier in the week, Vučić warned that security forces would use force against rally attendees, scheduled for Saturday.
Vučić, who has dominated Serbian politics since becoming prime minister in 2014 and then president in 2017, asserted that demonstrators would never force him to step down, stating, “You will have to kill me if you want to replace me.” The authorities have faced continuous protests since November, following a station roof collapse in Novi Sad that killed 14 people, with many attributing the disaster to widespread corruption. Despite the movement being leaderless and largely peaceful, Vučić has claimed that protesters will try to achieve their goals through violence and has predicted many will end up in prison on Saturday.
The rally is also expected to include known ultranationalists, including members of a former militia linked to the assassination of then-prime minister Zoran Djindjic in 2003. Djindjic, who played a crucial role in ousting Slobodan Milošević in 2000, was assassinated 22 years ago this week.
Dragan Djilas, the leader of the opposition Freedom and Justice party, accused Vučić of mobilizing criminals, thugs, and members of the paramilitary police group known as the Red Berets, to counter the hundreds of thousands expected to gather on Saturday. Vučić and his Serbian Progressive party, which has sidelined the official opposition, have been unsettled by the student protests, a movement seeking extensive reforms but without a clear plan for democratic transition.
Protesters are demanding accountability for the Novi Sad disaster and advocating for transparent institutions based on the rule of law. More than a dozen people have been charged in connection with the collapse, and the former prime minister, as well as the serving mayor of Novi Sad, have resigned. Vučić, however, has dismissed the idea of forming a transitional government or holding elections in the next six months, casting the protests as a western- orchestrated plot to remove him from power.
Dušan Spasojević, a professor at the University of Belgrade’s political science faculty, suggested that the government’s provocative language aimed to discourage people from participating in the demonstration. There are growing concerns about violence against demonstrators, with incidents of cars driving into protesters and some activists being hospitalized. The European Union’s response to these protests will be a critical test of Serbia’s commitment to EU standards, according to a cross-party group of MEPs. Serbia, an EU candidate country since 2012, has seen its progress stagnate under Vučić’s leadership and its pro-Russia stance on the Ukraine war.
The MEPs have called for Serbia to hold free and fair elections, ensure an independent judiciary, promote pluralistic media, and uphold the rule of law before any EU funds are released. Serbia is set to receive €1.5 billion in grants and cheap loans under an EU “growth plan” between 2024 and 2027. Organizers have pledged that the protests will continue after Saturday, stating that they aim to make “tectonic changes” and will persist “until justice is served.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/15/tensions-mount-in-serbia-as-protesters-converge-on-belgrade
