Serbian police removed metal fences and overturned rubbish bins blocking key streets and a bridge over the River Sava early on Monday, ending an overnight shutdown by protesters angered by arrests that followed a student-led demonstration two days earlier.
Police said “a number” of people were detained but gave no figure. Social-media video showed patrol cars speeding through one barricade, scattering bystanders in panic.
The barricades went up after tens of thousands gathered on Saturday to press President Aleksandar Vucic for an early parliamentary vote and justice for the 16 people killed when a canopy collapsed at Novi Sad rail station on November 1 last year.
Clashes flared after the rally ended around 22:00; protesters hurled rocks, bottles and flares, while riot police used batons, shields and pepper spray.
Nearly 50 officers and 22 demonstrators were injured, and close to 40 people now face criminal charges, police said.
Police director Dragan Vasiljevic told reporters “dozens” were held, while six officers were hurt in Saturday’s unrest.
Vucic, in power for 12 years, branded the protesters “terrorists” bent on a coup. “They wanted to overthrow the Serbian state and failed,” he wrote on Instagram, later alleging unspecified “foreign forces” were behind the unrest.
His ruling Serbian Progressive Party controls 156 of parliament’s 250 seats, and he has rejected demands to bring forward elections scheduled for 2027.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic vowed police would use “all powers” to preserve order. Students organizing the protests accused the government of escalating tensions, saying officials had “chosen violence and repression” against citizens.
Demonstrators say corruption allowed the Novi Sad station to be built with faulty materials and accuse Vucic’s administration of links to organized crime, political intimidation and media curbs – allegations the authorities deny.
Monday’s clearance restored traffic, but organizers said they would regroup later in the day. The weekend rally coincided with Serbia’s Vidovdan national holiday, marking the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, and capped nearly eight months of near-daily campus, labor and farming protests that have eroded Vucic’s support.
(jh)
Source: Associated Press, Euractiv