(Adnkronos) – Police intervened in Belgrade to remove the roadblocks set up last night in Belgrade by protesters demanding early elections. The Ministry of the Interior announced this in a statement: “The police removed all roadblocks in Belgrade overnight and traffic is now flowing normally”.
Traffic has returned to normal in the capital, but students leading the protest movement have already announced their intention to resume the blockades during the day. Several thousand demonstrators had erected barricades in several locations last night, following a demonstration that gathered about 140,000 people in the center of Belgrade, one of the largest since the beginning of the protest movement triggered by the collapse of the roof of the railway station in Novi Sad last November.
The disaster, which caused 16 victims, was attributed by the protesters to widespread corruption. Since then, demonstrators have marched across the country demanding, among other things, an independent investigation, an end to corruption and early parliamentary elections.
Speaking yesterday morning, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic rejected the idea of calling elections before those scheduled for 2027. Law enforcement authorities also announced that several people were arrested for “disturbing public order”, without specifying the number. On Saturday evening, several dozen demonstrators were arrested after clashes with police, who used tear gas and stun grenades.
