Clashes in Belgrade as student-led protests demand early elections
Tensions briefly flared between police and protesters in Belgrade on Saturday during student-led demonstrations. Activists are demanding that President Aleksandar Vučić call early parliamentary elections and strengthen guarantees for independent media.
The march, called by Belgrade University student councils, set out from Trg Republike Square and ended at Serbia's parliament building. Organiser Sara Mihajlović said about 35,000 people had passed through the square during the day; riot police used pepper spray in the evening to prevent the blocking of a major road.
The protest is part of a movement demanding accountability for the February collapse of a station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 15 people. Spokesperson Vesna Pešić, an academic, repeated the call for the government to make infrastructure-inspection records fully transparent.
In a short evening statement, President Vučić described the demonstrations as 'a democratic right' but did not address calls for an early election. EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said routine talks with Serbian officials on the rule-of-law dossier will take place in Brussels next week.
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