Protests against the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) broke out in several cities this evening, with the most serious incidents reported in Novi Sad, Belgrade, and Niš, BGNES reports.

The demonstrations, which have been going on for months, escalated after SNS supporters in Novi Sad again threw fireworks at protesters, sparking clashes.

In Novi Sad, an unknown man was filmed pulling a gun in front of the SNS headquarters. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic later said that the man was a sergeant major in the Serbian army, "on duty to guard a protected person."

Witnesses also reported masked men with batons behind the SNS building and shots fired into the air before the gendarmerie separated the two groups.

There was a heavy police presence in Belgrade and tear gas was used repeatedly.

Protesters who tried to reach the SNS complex, known as " Ćaciland," were blocked, leading to the closure of Slavia Square and surrounding streets.

Arrests were made near the Law Faculty, where a young man "hit a police officer in plain clothes, breaking his tooth."

Several citizens, including students, reported being beaten with police batons despite not resisting.

In Niš, students accused riot police of beating a student from the Faculty of Philosophy. A citizen claimed that he was sprayed in the eyes with tear gas during a physical altercation.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić addressed the nation, accusing the demonstrators of "trying to provoke a civil war," while failing to mention the pyrotechnics used by SNS supporters.

He said 64 SNS members had been injured in Novi Sad and promised "no mercy for the thugs and hooligans."

Foreign media described the events as a "significant escalation" of anti-government protests in Serbia, noting that riot police had been deployed to guard SNS buildings, windows had been broken in Novi Sad, and thousands of people had gathered across the country.

Coverage in pro-government media differed sharply, portraying opposition supporters as aggressors who attacked police and citizens outside the SPS offices with "weapons, fireworks, flares, stones, and other objects."

The media described those present as "peacefully gathered" to defend the party's property and "their right to freedom of opinion, political choice, and democracy."

BGNES reminds that mass protests against Alexander Vučić's regime began after 16 people were killed when the roof of the railway station in Novi Sad collapsed on November 1, 2024. The building had been officially opened just four months earlier, after three years of reconstruction. | BGNES