Protests in Serbia are not calming down, which shows that many citizens do not want to wait for elections but want them immediately, German-language media report after the protests and clashes on Vidovdan.
“There were arrests and injuries in violent clashes between police and demonstrators during mass protests against the authorities in Belgrade,” reports Germany’s largest news agency dpa, as conveyed by Deutsche Welle.
The report states that there were around 140,000 people at the protests, although the authorities announced a significantly lower number, around 36,000.
“Demonstrators traveled to Belgrade from all over the country on Saturday. Many held Serbian flags and signs with the name of their town,” the agency writes and reminds:
“Serbia has been shaken for more than half a year by the strongest protests since the 1990s. The trigger was the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy last November, when 16 people died.”
The authorities are under strong pressure, dpa assesses. It is reported that students accuse the authorities of violence, claiming that they could have resolved the political crisis by calling elections.
The public broadcaster ARD, in an agency report on its portal, reminds that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić “has been steering the country since 2012, changing positions.”
“He controls the media, as well as the judiciary and the police. Opposition members are slandered in the media, state institutions intimidate them, and thug troops attack,” the report states.
“Recently, Vučić has increased pressure on the protest movement. Participants and sympathizers are arrested on suspicious pretexts, and the salaries of university employees have been drastically cut,” ARD adds.
Seeking help for injured protester
Similar reports were published by other major portals, such as the weeklies Zeit, Spiegel, and Stern, and the daily newspapers Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Welt.
Writing about the Vidovdan gathering, the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on its portal states that “the front between the Serbian authorities and protesting students has further intensified.”
It is recalled that the students promised “civil disobedience,” which Süddeutsche assesses as “a new strategy to obtain early parliamentary elections.”
The Swiss public broadcaster SRF reminds of the symbolism of Vidovdan: “It is a religious day of remembrance of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, a symbol of Serbian identity and strength of resistance.”
The next regular elections should be in two years, SRF writes and concludes: “But the ongoing protests show that many Serbian women and men do not want to wait that long.”
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DAČIĆ PUBLISHED DATA: 77 demonstrators arrested, 48 police officers injured!
Source: N1, Photo: Vladislav Mitić Nova