Prepared by: ECF
Protests in Serbia have entered their tenth month, following the collapse of a bridge in Novi Sad in November 2024, which killed 16 people and stirred dissatisfaction with the current government, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) led by President Vucic. Since then, Serbian civil society — and especially student unions — have been restlessly protesting. In August, clashes between anti-government protesters and government supporters took place in Belgrade. Footage showed firecrackers and flares being fired at anti-government protesters from government supporters and SNS offices, with the police intervening to moderate the situation. However, President Vucic later told a press conference that 60 government supporters and 16 policemen were wounded during the clashes. President Vucic also asserted that foreign actors are behind these protests. At the beginning of September, tens of thousands of people marched to remember the 16 victims of the bridge’s fall, with leading voices calling for a snap election, accusing the SNS’s corruption of being one of the main causes for the disaster in Novi Sad.
