Students and agricultural unions staged a huge rally against populist President Aleksandar Vučić in a central square in Belgrade on Sunday.
Aleksandar Vučić’s hold on power has been called into question for several weeks by mass demonstrations, following the collapse, on November 1, of an awning at a train station in the city of Novi Sad, which left 15 dead.
The rally organized on Sunday in Belgrade’s Slavija Square was one of the largest since the start of the mobilization. It began with a 15-minute silence in tribute to the victims, then songs “You have blood on your hands.” were heard.
Smaller protests also took place this weekend in the towns of Nis and Kragujevac.
In Serbia, Many attribute the tragedy in Novi Sad to widespread corruption and shoddy work on the station buildingwhich has been renovated twice in recent years as part of major projects involving Chinese state-owned enterprises.
Protesters demand that Aleksandar Vučić and those responsible for the accident be brought to justice.
Serbia’s most popular theater and film actors joined the protest, with actor Bane Trifunovic calling Sunday’s rally a “freedom festival”.
Aleksandar Vučić said he would not give in to opposition demands to establish a transitional government and accused his opponents of using students to try to seize power.
“We will beat them again”declared the president. “They (the opposition) don’t know what else to do other than use someone’s children”.
Prosecutors arrested 13 people in connection with the Novi Sad tragedy, including a minister whose release subsequently fueled public skepticism about the honesty of the investigation.
A climate of tension in Serbia
The weeks-long protests reflect broader discontent with Aleksandar Vučić’s government.
The populist leader officially says he wants to bring Serbia into the European Union, but he was accused of restricting democratic freedoms instead of advancing them.
Faced with the scale of the student protests, classes have been suspended in many Serbian universities. In recent days, more and more high school students have joined the movement.
A group of farmers also said on Sunday that police had confiscated the tractor they had driven into central Belgrade before the demonstration.
Besides farmers, Serbian students also received support from all sections of society, including their teachers, media figures, lawyers and prominent figures.
President Aleksandar Vučić, who initially accused the students of being bribed to organize the protests, later claimed to have responded to their demands, including by publishing documents relating to the renovation work at the Novi Sad train station.