Serbian students block Belgrade road junction to increase pressure on Vučić
Serbian students block Belgrade road junction to increase pressure on Vučić
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Farmers bring tractors in support of protest, in echo of fall of former president Slobodan Milošević. Serbian students have staged a daylong blockage of a major traffic intersection in Belgrade with the support of farmers, stepping up pressure on the president, Aleksandar Vučić.
The wave of student-led demonstrations began as a protest against government corruption after the collapse of a roof of a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad on 1 November, which killed 15 people. Despite attacks on the protesters and limited government concessions, the near daily protests have grown and spread, affecting more than 100 cities and towns and drawing in increasing support from members of the judiciary, teachers, private businesses and the general public.
On Monday the demonstrators occupied the Autokomanda junction where two major roads from the south-east converge on the way to Belgrade’s centre. Thousands of Belgrade residents joined the protests along with some farmers who brought their tractors to the capital, some of which were used to protect the protesters, after two serious incidents of cars ramming the crowds of demonstrators.
The appearance of farmers and tractors was an echo of the mass protests and march on Belgrade that ultimately brought down the regime of Vučić’s predecessor Slobodan Milošević in 2000. Milošević’s fall, however, only came when key elements of the security forces turned against him.
After a record 100,000 people turned out to protest in Belgrade on 22 December, Vučić threatened them, saying Serbia’s special forces would “throw them around in 6-7 seconds”. But the threat drew widespread ridicule and he has so far not attempted to use the security forces to break up the protests.
