The street in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Belgrade is blocked by students protesting against the results of the December 17 elections in Serbia, RIA Novosti reports on December 25.
Several hundred students gathered around 11:00 a.m. (1:00 p.m. Moscow time) on Bircaninova Street in the center of Belgrade. They came to block traffic in front of the building of the Ministry of State Administration and Self-Government. They also brought posters with the symbols of the “Fight” movement and slogans about “electoral theft”. They whistle, honk horns and bang pots and pans, chanting anti-government slogans.
Around 1:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. Moscow time), the organizers asked those gathered to move from Birchaninova Street to the central Kneza Milos Street. There, on the one hand, are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Serbian government, and on the other, the buildings of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense and the foreign embassies destroyed by NATO bombing. So far the police are not interfering with what is happening.
Let us remember that after the parliamentary and municipal elections on December 17, activists from the Students Against Violence movement, who did not agree with the results, demanded that the authorities publish the voter lists, threatening to block traffic on several streets. of Belgrade if the demand was not met. met on December 25.
At the request of the Republican Electoral Commission, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Public Administration verified the registration and actual residence of 500 voters in Belgrade, something controversial for the opposition, but did not find any violations.
Supporters of the opposition bloc “Serbia against violence” began to organize riots in front of the building of the executive and representative body in Belgrade. They broke glass and threw cobblestones at the doors and windows of the parliament building, tried to break through and the police responded with tear gas.
On Sunday afternoon, police dispersed protesters in front of the Belgrade administration, cleared the square and established a cordon. According to Serbia’s Interior Ministry, eight police officers were injured during opposition protests near the Belgrade Assembly, 38 protest participants were detained, suspected “in an attempt to violently overthrow the constitutional order.”
And about. the mayor of Belgrade called what was happening “Maidanization”and the President of Serbia, in connection with the incident, called an urgent meeting of the National Security Council.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in a speech to citizens, stated that these protests in Belgrade are an attempt to deprive Serbia of independence and sovereignty, but the authorities intend to preserve order.
He also thanked partner intelligence services from other countries who he said warned Serbian authorities of impending unrest.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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