What's Behind The Eruption Of Violence At Protests In Serbia?

A wave of protests that began in Serbia in November 2024 has entered a new phase, with demonstrators and police clashing daily since August 12, when violence broke out in the northern cities of Vrbas and Backa Palanka.

Those incidents sparked protests in dozens of Serbian cities, including the capital, Belgrade, as accusations of police brutality spread across the country.

"Four or five of them (policemen) beat me, pushed my head into a concrete [surface]," physics student Dusan Cvetkovic told RFE/RL's Balkan Service. Cvetkovic was arrested in Belgrade on August 14 during an anti-government protest.

The Serbian Interior Ministry has neither denied nor commented on Cvetkovic's claims, or those of other protesters who accused police of using excessive force.

The protests have been further fueled by a video that appeared on the second day of clashes showing young men detained in Novi Sad kneeling before police officers after being arrested.

Why Are Protests In Serbia Turning Violent?

The images were initially published by pro-government media. Cvetkovic also said he was taken in an unmarked car to a garage and left with bruises on his face after a beating he received there.

In other incidents, supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) attacked peaceful demonstrators.

Who Is Behind The Demonstrations?

Calls for demonstrations have circulated daily on social media. People are invited to join through social media groups that students have been using to communicate with the public since the beginning of the protests.

Many citizens have responded peacefully, but footage by RFE/RL and other media has also shown masked men throwing stones and pyrotechnics at the police.

Protesters trashed several SNS offices and in Valjevo, 80 kilometers southwest of Belgrade, also damaged the headquarters of the Serbian Radical Party, led by convicted war criminal and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's former mentor, Vojislav Seselj.

The spark for the initial protests in November 2024 was the deadly collapse of a railway station roof in Novi Sad.

What's Behind The Student-Led Protests In Serbia?

The tragedy killed 16 people and shocked the public amid reports that corrupt practices led to shoddy construction at the railway station, a flagship government project led by Chinese businesses.

In the following days, dozens of faculties in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, and other university cities were blocked by protesting students supported by the majority of professors.

These developments sparked a wave of demonstrations not seen since the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic’s regime in 2000.

Initially, demands focused on accountability for the Novi Sad tragedy and sought the prosecution of those who attacked student demonstrators. Six months later, student organizations, until then largely apolitical, called for snap elections.

What Was Vucic's Response?

Some of the students' demands were met. The government released thousands of documents related to the Novi Sad reconstruction. But critics argue the archive was incomplete and failed to clarify key details.

They also said that by delivering thousands of documents Vucic and the government were merely trying to appear transparent while in fact deepening confusion about the station project.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic visits the damaged premises of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party on August 18.

In July, the SNS dismissed four party activists accused of attacking Belgrade drama students at peaceful protests in January.

Vucic, however, has never condemned inflammatory rhetoric from his party's officials or pro-government media, some of which has compared demonstrators to Nazis or Croatian World War II-era fascists, the Ustashe.

What Will Happen Next?

The future of the protests and the overall political situation in Serbia remains uncertain.

The divide between Serbia's ruling elite and its critics is wider than ever. Public anger at corruption and organized crime, highlighted in EU progress reports year after year, has reached unprecedented levels.

For the first time since his party came to power in 2012, Vucic faces genuine social resistance. Yet this resistance is not politically articulated because there is no dominant party among the opposition.

The only unifying force behind the rebellion is the student movement -- a generation of young people who have already lost a year of their studies to protests.