Serbia erupted into violence between anti-government forces and the supporters of President Aleksandar Vucic, a major escalation more than nine months into primarily peaceful protests. Violence was most tightly felt on Tuesday night in the town of Vrbas, northwest of Belgrade, where riot police have come in between the two opposing sides who came out in large numbers in front of the offices of the ruling party, Serbian Progressive Party.
Footage of the scene captured by video cameras revealed that the government supporters threw flares, rocks and bottles, and the protesters responded by throwing objects at them. Police have said several dozen were injured in the clashes, with 16 police officers among them. Other reports of violent incidents also occurred in other towns such as Backa Palanka, Novi Sad and in the southern city of Nis. Riot police in Belgrade drove away crowds of people who assembled in one of the central places. A number of people were arrested over the riots.
The student-driven protests started in November, when the public was outraged when a canopy at a train station collapsed in Novi Sad, killing 16 people. This tragedy was used to charge corruption and mismanagement in state infrastructure projects, thus attracting a lot of dissent. Since that time, hundreds of thousands of citizens have taken part in the protests and questioned the high level of political control by Vucic, who wants to be more accountable.
Recently, the pro-government organisations began to organise counter-demonstrations, which caused the increased fear of violent conflicts. Police chief Dragan Vasiljevic told the state broadcaster RTS that those protesting had arrived to attack ruling party supporters in Vrbas. Yet, the participants said that the government supporters were the ones who started the violence in several places.
Among the demands of those protesting are that Interior Minister Ivica Dacic resign on the grounds that he was soft on recent violence and that early parliamentary elections be held, which so far Vucic has been resisting. There are growing tensions as the political environment of Serbia seems to be ripe and might show up more struggles in the days to come.
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