Protesters in Belgrade attacked an office of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP), located in the center of the capital, with stones. The building's windows were broken, and the gendarmerie, patrolling in armored cars, quickly dispersed the demonstrators, Serbian media reported, News.bg reports.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić arrived at the scene just 15 minutes after the incident. He said that what happened shows how the opposition “has no ideas and a program, but seeks to come to power through violence, with the support of external factors“. According to him, the protesters are trying to provoke a “color revolution“:
“They are trying to destroy the basic values that we are used to. We will resist them and fight, we will restore what they took from us“, Vucic said in front of the broken window of the party office.
Anti-government demonstrations were also held in other Serbian cities this evening. The protests have been going on for more than nine months and intensified in early August, after clashes between citizens and SPP supporters in Vojvodina.
The discontent erupted on November 1 last year, after the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station claimed the lives of 16 people. The tragedy caused blockades of more than 60 faculties, and students became the main driving force of the protests. They accuse the government and the president of corruption and nepotism.
During the mass protest on Vidovden (June 28) in Belgrade - a date of particular importance in Serbian history - students demanded early elections and declared civil disobedience.
While the opposition protests continued this evening, counter-protesting students, supported by the government, gathered in front of the National Assembly building. They were joined by ministers and deputies from the majority, including Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, Marko Đurić and Nikola Selaković.
„We came here to support people who want to study, live and work normally. Long live Serbia!“, Minister Mali wrote on „Facebook“.