Anti-Vucic Protesters, Police Clash in Belgrade

Riot police fired tear gas at thousands of anti-government protesters in Serbia's capital on Saturday. The major rally in Belgrade against Serbia's populist president, Aleksandar Vucic, was called to back a demand for an early parliamentary election. The protest by tens of thousands was held after nearly eight months of persistent demonstrations led by Serbia's university students that have rattled Vucic's firm grip on power in the Balkan country. Demonstrators chanted "We want elections!" as they filled the capital's central Slavija Square and several blocks around it, with many unable to reach the venue. "People need not worry—the state will be defended and thugs brought to justice," Vucic told reporters on Saturday.

Tensions were high before and during the gathering. Riot police deployed around government buildings and close to a camp of Vucic's loyalists in central Belgrade. Skirmishes erupted between riot officers and groups of protesters near the camp. "Elections are a clear way out of the social crisis caused by the deeds of the government, which is undoubtedly against the interests of their own people," said one of the students who gave a speech to the crowd. "Today, on June 28, 2025, we declare the current authorities illegitimate." At the end of the official part of the rally, students told the crowd to "take freedom into your own hands."

University students have been a key force behind nationwide anti-corruption demonstrations that started after a renovated rail station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people on Nov. 1. Many blamed the concrete roof crash on government corruption and negligence in infrastructure projects, leading to recurring mass protests. Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly refused to call an early vote and accused protesters of planning to spur violence on orders from abroad, which they don't specify. Serbian police, firmly controlled by Vucic's government, said 36,000 people were present at the start of the protest on Saturday. Hours before the rally, Vucic's party bused in its own supporters to Belgrade from other parts of the country, many wearing T-shirts reading: "We won't give up Serbia."