Protesters block road to ministry in Belgrade
Irregularities in the elections in Serbia are leading to ongoing protests in the capital Belgrade. Following their attack on the city hall on Sunday, demonstrators have now blocked the road leading to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Autonomy.
Just over a week after the parliamentary elections in Serbia, which were overshadowed by irregularities, demonstrators have blocked a street in the center of the capital Belgrade. As an AFP journalist observed, several hundred protesters blocked the road leading to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Autonomy. Several road blockades had been announced in advance.
Most of the demonstrators who paralyzed traffic in front of the ministry were students belonging to the "Borba" (struggle) protest movement. They are demanding a re-examination of the electoral roll. President Vucic's right-wing populist party SNS had clearly won the parliamentary elections on December 17. 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 fake 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.
Serbian head of government thanks Russian security authorities
On Sunday evening, protesters attacked Belgrade City Hall and clashed with the police. The protesters broke several windows and the police pushed them back with pepper spray. President Vucic spoke of a pre-planned attempt at a "violent takeover of state institutions". Head of government Ana Brnabic explained that the plans for the protests had been known in advance - and thanked Russian security authorities for passing on information about them. President Vucic met the Russian ambassador in Belgrade today, Monday, to discuss the incidents.
Russia, which has a traditionally close relationship with Serbia, described the protests as Western interference. The "attempts of the collective West to destabilize the situation in the country" were "obvious", said the spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Maria Zakharova, to the state news agency Ria Novosti. However, she did not provide any evidence of this.
Read also:
- Year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Precautionary arrests show Islamist terror threat
- UN vote urges Israel to ceasefire
- SPD rules out budget resolution before the end of the year
The protests in Belgrade, sparked by election irregularities, have spread to block a road leading to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Autonomy. In light of these events, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic thanked Russian security authorities for providing information about the planned protests.
Source: www.ntv.de
