Protesters attack Belgrade City Hall
One week after the parliamentary elections in Serbia, demonstrators attempt to storm Belgrade's city hall. Thousands of people take to the streets in the capital and demand that the election be annulled. President Vucic, who is suspected of fraud, speaks of dramatic scenes.
During protests against the elections in Serbia, which were overshadowed by allegations of fraud, demonstrators attacked the city hall in the capital Belgrade and clashed with the police. The demonstrators threw stones, sticks and eggs at the city hall, smashed windows and tried to break into the building, as a journalist from the AFP news agency reported from the scene. Police officers pushed the demonstrators back and used pepper spray, among other things. The demonstration was dispersed at around 10 p.m. local time.
After the protests, President Aleksandar Vucic said that two police officers had been "seriously injured" and that other officers had sustained minor injuries. More than 35 people had been arrested. On the pro-government Pink TV channel, the right-wing politician spoke of an attempt at a "violent takeover of state institutions". It was a planned attack: "Everything was prepared in advance", said Vucic. There was "solid evidence" of this. The president had previously spoken of "dramatic scenes". However, there was "no revolution underway". The Ministry of the Interior called on the demonstrators not to use violence.
Berlin declares its disapproval
President Vucic's right-wing populist SNS party won a clear victory in last Sunday's parliamentary elections. Local elections were also held on the same day.
An international observer mission reported a number of "irregularities" after the election, including cases of violence, vote buying and the stuffing of ballot boxes with forged ballot papers. Citing this report, the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin stated that the violations were "unacceptable for a country with EU candidate status".
The election results triggered days of protests in front of the Serbian election commission building. Several representatives of the loose opposition alliance Serbia Against Violence went on hunger strike in an attempt to have the election results annulled.
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Source: www.ntv.de
