Police use tear gas to disperse Serbia anti-government protesters

Serbian gendarmerie officers chase protesters during an anti-government protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse anti-government protesters in the Serbian city of Novi Sad late Friday after thousands rallied to demand early elections.

It was the latest in a series of student-led protests across the Balkan country against perceived misgovernance, sparked by the fatal collapse of the Novi Sad train station roof in November.

The tragedy, which killed 16 people, was widely blamed on entrenched corruption, with protesters’ demands for a transparent investigation growing into calls for snap elections.

The demonstrations, piling pressure on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, mainly passed off peacefully. But in mid-August they degenerated into violence that was blamed by protesters on heavy-handed tactics by government loyalists and police.

Protesters at Friday’s rally repeated their calls for early elections and marched towards the city’s campus where police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse them, an AFP reporter saw.

Protesters had earlier thrown flares and bottles at the police, according to the Beta news agency.

Vucic accused the protesters of trying to “threaten the stability and security of Serbia” and “occupy the university premises in Novi Sad”.

Eleven police officers were injured in front of the faculty of philosophy, Vucic told a press conference.

Several people were arrested, and several dozen more will be taken into custody, he added.

“People in Serbia should know that the state is stronger than anyone ... that will always be the case,” Vucic said, adding that pro-government rallies would be held across the country on Sunday.

On Monday, tens of thousands of people marched in the capital Belgrade, Novi Sad and other cities to mark the 10-month anniversary of the tragedy.

After the march in Novi Sad, a group of protesters briefly clashed with police and claimed that officers unprovokedly used stun grenades and rubber batons against them.

The protests have led to the resignation of the prime minister and the collapse of his government, but Vucic has remained defiantly in office at the helm of a reshuffled administration.

He has so far brushed off demands for early elections. Vucic alleges the demonstrations, the largest of which have drawn hundreds of thousands of people, are part of a foreign plot.

Authorities have rejected allegations of brutality, despite videos showing officers beating unarmed protesters and accusations that activists were assaulted while in custody.

Vucic’s ruling nationalist SNS party, in power since 2012, has responded by staging its own rallies around the country.