The Balkans Today
LIVE: Anti-Vucic Protests Continue Across Serbia
Stay tuned for all the latest developments as thousands of people protested in towns across Serbia against what they call the “dictatorship” of Aleksandar Vucic, the president-elect and current prime minister.
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Anti-government protests in Novi Sad, the biggest so far, saw the demonstrators blocking the street toward the building of Vojvodina’s provincial broadcaster, RTV, and guarding local office of ruling Progressives.Protesters, who demand both RTV management and Progressive led government to resign, said they did not want to risk any incidents or sign of violence to occur during the protests.
Novi sad protesters guarding Progressives' office. Photo: Vanja Djuric/BIRN 
Demonstrators guard a road towards RTV. Photo: Vanja Djuric/BIRN -
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Anti-government protests were once again held tonight in Sombor, Kragujevac, Kraljevo and Krusevac, where hundreds took streets. Larger protests with thousands participating were also held in Nis and Novi sad, while the one in Belgrade is still ongoing.
Day 5: Protests in Nis. Photo: Beta -
Thousands anti-government protesters in Belgrade are walking back to the parliament building where the protest would soon end chanting “Arrest Vucic!” “Vucic Thief!”, "Down with Dictatorship!" and “Tomorrow at 12pm!”, announcing a big rally in the capital tomorrow.
Day 5: Belgrade protest. Photo: Beta -
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As protesters from around Serbia are gathering for anti-government rally in Belgrade, Sloga trade union announced it will join youth protests in Serbian capital on Tuesday.
The union demand resignation of a director of Krusevac based rubber goods factory Trayal, after the factory dismissed the head if Trayal union head, Vladica Tomasevic.
According to the union Tomasevic was sacked because he was inviting workers to join youth protesters. The factory however said Tomasevic was considered to be redundant.
Anti-government protesters are gathering in front of the government building in Belgrade. Photo: Filip Rudic/BIRN -
Youth protesters that have been rallying against the “dictatorship”, as the demonstrators refer to the rule of Serbian Prime Minister and President-Elect Aleksandar Vucic, are joining a protest scheduled by army and police unions for today at noon in Belgrade.
Army unions supported youth protests’ demands that are calling for the government to resign along with top officials from the public broadcasters RTS and RTV, the Central Electoral Commission, RIK, and the regulatory Authority for Electronic Media, REM.
They also demand the resignation of Maja Gojkovic, the speaker of parliament, who they claim broke the law when she prorogued parliament ahead of the presidential vote.
Anti-government protesters gathering in Belgrade. Photo: Filip Rudic/BIRN -
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Rally in Belgrade, organised by army and police union who seeks higher wages and better working conditions, also gathered the activists from “Let’s not Drown Belgrade” initiative that have been protesting against grand state-backed construction project Belgrade Waterfront.
"Let's not Drown Belgrade" flag at protests. Photo: Vanja Djuric/BIRN -
Protesters in Belgrade are sharing a last year’s copy of daily newspaper Danas, one of the rare independent dailies in the country.
Danas said they lost many advertisers in the course of the last 12 months and thanked its readers for the support that flooded social media in the last few days.
Daily Danas, Belgrade rally. Photo: Vanja Djuric/BIRN -
Uros Stambolic, one of the demonstrators at Belgrade protests, told daily Danas that “there are no organisers” of the anti-government protests in Serbian capital, but “only participants.”
“We are not under the influence of any political party, politician or organisation…and we are trying to keep it that way,” Stambolic, a grandson of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic murdered in 2000 on the order of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. -
Pro-government tabloid Informer published today that the protesters in Serbian capital are preparing “radicalization” of the rally, stating they will “block the streets” and “initiate fights.”
Informer is infamous for its biased, defamatory articles and often reports on alleged coups. -
Opposition Liberal Democratic Party, LDP, said their representative would resign from the Central Electoral Commission, RIK, on Monday.
Cedomir Jovanovic, the head of LDP, said that the decision of resignation came as a response on youth protests, who have been rallying across Serbia demanding among other things resignations of RIK members.
Cedomir Jovanovic. Photo: Beta -
“The times when politicians would turn the army and police against its people are over. Army, police and the people are in one place today,” Veljko Mijailovic, the head of police union told the protests.
He said that Nebojsa Stefanovic, Serbian interior minister, ordered all its employees to show up for work today so that they could not come to the protests.
As the people chanted “Tyrant” and “Betrayal”, Mijailovic said that security in the country is crumbling, while the ministry is employ people with criminal records. -
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The unions that are protesting against government have played the rally an old recording of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic saying that he will not cut pensions.
The pension cuts were introduced in Serbia in 2014.
Belgrade rally. Photo: Vanja Djuric/BIRN -
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Local media estimate that around 20,000 people are protesting against Aleksandar Vucic’s government in Belgrade. The rally brought together army, police unions and workers unions, students, pensioners and other citizens.
Belgrade protest gathered around 20,000 people. Photo: Ljubisa Banovic/BIRN -
Protesters are holding ‘wanted’ posters of Maja Gojkovic, Serbian parliamentary speaker, Dragan Vucicevic, the editor of pro-government tabloid Informer, and Zeljko Mitrovic, owner of pro-government TV Pink.
Informer and Pink have both been marking protests as 'dangerous'. Both are infamous for its biased, pro-government reporting and public persecution of government's critics.
Protesters holds a 'wanted' poster with a photo of Maja Gojkovic. Photo: Vanja Djuric/BIRN 
Protesters hold 'wanted' posters of Vucicevic and Mitrovic. Photo: Vanja Djuric/BIRN hol -
More then a dozen thousands anti-government protesters in Belgrade are marching toward the Palace of Serbia, the seat of interior ministry and a future seat of the presidency.
Aleksandar Vucic, current Prime Minister and President-Elect, said earlier that the seat of the presidency, once he becomes the head of state, would be at the Palace of Serbia.
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Protesters at the Belgrade rally against Aleksandar Vucic's government have reached Branko's Bridge and are crossing into New Belgrade, where the Palace of Serbia is situated. Some estimate that there are 20,000 people in the column, heading for the seat of the Ministry of Interior. The rally is proceeding without incident.
Photo: Anadolu -
Protesters are filling the plateau in front of the Palace of Serbia, an administrative building in Belgrade that Aleksandar Vucic intends to make his seat upon assuming office as Serbia's president. The building used to be the seat of socialist Yugoslavia's government, and housed the cabinet of its president Josip Broz Tito.
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Serbian Prime Minister and president-elect Aleksandar Vucic said today that the National Assembly shall be resuming its session soon, Beta news agency reports. The session was controversially discontinued because of presidential elections, but after the anti-Vucic protests broke out six days ago the Speaker, Maja Gojkovic, accused the protesters of preventing the parliament from operating normally.
Photo: Emil Vas/Beta -
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The rally of police and army unions has finished, and the column of protesters is heading back to the National Assembly, where students have been protesting for the past six days against the rule of Aleksandar Vucic. The unions have pledged to join the youth in front of the parliament.
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Bojan Pajtic, former leader of opposition Democratic Party, DS, said he resigned as a deputy in Serbian parliament in a response to ongoing youth protests against the rule of Serbian Prime Minister and President-Elect Aleksandar Vucic.
Pajtic said that “students thought him” that any further engagement as an MP would mean that he is giving a legitimacy to a political system in which “the institutions mean nothing, laws mean nothing, media freedom means nothing.” -
About 1,000 people protested in Serbian southern town of Nis against – as they say – “dictatorship of Serbian Prime Minister and President-Elect Aleksandar Vucic.
The protesters carried banners “Turn Off TV, Turn On Your Brain” and “We Want Future in Serbia.”
Today was seventh protests in a row in Nis and the fresh rally is scheduled to be held tomorrow at 6pm. -
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People are starting their protest against the Serbian government in Belgrade in front the National Assembly, from where they will continue to the building of the national broadcaster Radio-Television Serbia, RTS. From there they will continue towards the building of the Serbian government and return to the National Assembly.
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Many thousands of protesters against government gathered in northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, thus being the biggest in that city this week, regional N1 reports. Protesters are moving towards the Radio-Television Vojvodina, RTV. Protesters carry signs "Against the System", "Against Capitalism By All Means", "Stop Vucic" and "Let's Save Chinese Neighbourhood".
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Serbian Prime Minister and President-elect Aleksandar Vucic denied today that he will be staging a counter-protest of his supporters on Thursday as a response to the wave of anti-government rallies across Serbia that were triggered by his victory in the April 2 presidential elections."That day is Maundy Thursday [the Christian holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter], and besides, I have no need to bring out 50,000-100,000 people… I see no point in doing that at the moment. This information is incorrect," Vucic said after meeting US Senator John McCain in Belgrade on Monday.
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