BELGRADE: Belgrade is bracing for yet another student-led protest on Saturday to pressure Serbia\u2019s populist President Aleksandar Vucic to call for a snap parliamentary election after nearly eight months of rallies that have rattled his firm grip on power in the Balkan country.
\nTensions have soared ahead of the protest organized by Serbia\u2019s university students, a key force behind nationwide anti-corruption demonstrations that started after a renovated rail station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people on Nov. 1.
\nMany blamed the concrete roof crash on rampant government corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects, leading to recurring mass protests.
\nVucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have refused the demand for an early vote and accused protesters of planning to spur violence at orders from abroad, which they didn\u2019t specify.
\nIn a show of business as usual, the Serbian president handed out presidential awards in the capital to people, including artists and journalists, he deemed worthy, as his loyalists, camping in a park in central Belgrade, announced they would hold a \u201cliterary evening.\u201d
\n\u201cPeople need not worry \u2014 the state will be defended and thugs brought to justice,\u201d Vucic told reporters on Saturday.
\nSerbian presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2027.
\nSaturday marks St. Vitus Day, a religious holiday and the date when Serbs mark a 14th-century battle against Ottoman Turks in Kosovo that was the start of hundreds of years of Turkish rule, holding symbolic importance.
\nPolice earlier this week arrested several people accused of allegedly plotting to overthrow the government and banned entry into the country to several people from Croatia and a theater director from Montenegro without explanation. Serbia\u2019s railway company halted train service over an alleged bomb threat in what critics said was an apparent bid to prevent people from traveling to Belgrade for the rally.
\nAuthorities made similar moves back in March, ahead of what was the biggest ever anti-government protest in the Balkan country, which drew hundreds of thousands of people.
\nVucic\u2019s loyalists then set up a camp in a park outside his office, which still stands. The otherwise peaceful gathering on March 15 came to an abrupt end when part of the crowd suddenly scattered in panic, triggering allegations that authorities used a sonic weapon against peaceful protesters, which they have denied.
\nVucic, a former extreme nationalist, has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power over a decade ago. Though he formally says he wants Serbia to join the European Union, critics say Vucic has stifled democratic freedoms as he strengthened ties with Russia and China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BELGRADE: Belgrade is bracing for yet another student-led protest on Saturday to pressure Serbia\u2019s populist President Aleksandar Vucic to call for a snap parliamentary election after nearly eight months of rallies that have rattled his firm grip on power in the Balkan country. Tensions have soared ahead of the protest organized by Serbia\u2019s university students, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-487089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n