BELGRADE -- Student groups ended their seven-hour blockade of central Belgrade streets without major incidents after they had joined angry opposition supporters on December 25 in protests against alleged fraud in elections last weekend.
Student leaders demanded that the authorities grant access to voter lists to verify the eligibility of participants in the December 17 elections after domestic and European organizations observers expressed doubts about the validity of many ballots.
Many of the Belgrade students -- joined by students from Novi Sad University -- left the blockade after about seven hours and joined the main protests.
Student leaders said they did not expect their street blockades to be repeated on December 26, but opposition leaders said they planned to returm to the streets for a ninth night of protests.
Many of the protesters concluded their actions in front of the Belgrade city police department headquarters. Local media reported that some students had been arrested, but information remained scarce.
Miroslav Aleksic, a leader of the opposition coalition, thanked students for aiding their efforts.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Serbian Students Play Football, Read Books On Belgrade Streets As Election Protests Continue
The opposition groups, led by the pro-Europe Serbia Against Violence coalition, claimed that populist President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) had brought in ethnic Serbs from Bosnia-Herzegovina and other former Yugoslav republics to vote in Belgrade in the parliamentary and local elections, thus handing victory to the SNS.
Western observers, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, also assailed the ruling party's grip on media sources and intimidation tactics throughout the campaign leading up to election day.
Vucic and his government have denied allegations of voter irregularities and have said the elections were held under democratic conditions.
In a social media post on December 25, the U.S. ambassador to Belgrade, Christopher Hill, wrote: “In the hours and days ahead, Serbia's leaders and its citizens should remember: The legitimacy of democratic processes depends upon transparency and on the readiness of all parties, winning or losing, to respect the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box.”
Overnight, dozens of people were detained and at least seven police officers injured in Belgrade as riot police tried to prevent hundreds of the opposition supporters from entering the city council building.
Some people battled with police outside the city hall, smashing windows, breaking doors, and attempting to force their way in.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Serbian Opposition Alleges Provocation As Postelection Protest Turns Violent
Opposition leaders later alleged that violence at the demonstrations had been perpetrated by “hooligans sent by the authorities.” It was not possible to immediately verify the claims.
Vucic called the protest an attempt to overthrow the government instigated from abroad. The president said more than 35 people were arrested and more detentions would follow.
“This was an attempted violent takeover of state institutions,” Vucic told the pro-government Pink TV late on December 24, adding that there was evidence that "everything was prepared in advance.”
Vucic called the demonstrators “thugs” who would not succeed in destabilizing the country. He suggested that the unrest was orchestrated from abroad but provided no evidence to support the claim.
The protest was called by the Serbia Against Violence coalition, which rejected the outcome of the December 17 elections following victory claims by the SNS.
International and domestic election observers reported multiple irregularities, including cases of bought votes and the stuffing of ballot boxes.
There have been peaceful protests every evening since the vote, with the opposition demanding the annulment of election results. The December 24 protest was the first to turn violent.
"The whole world has seen the theft that has not been recorded. In Belgrade, we won. Belgrade is a free city," opposition politician Srdjan Milivojevic of the Democratic Party said at the rally.
Protesters carried banners and flags of Serbia and the European Union as they blew whistles and repeatedly shouted "thieves, thieves" during the demonstrations.
Vucic said the newly elected parliament -- with the SNS in control -- would be installed in January 2024 and that formation of the government is expected at the end of February.
On December 23, the Serbian Prosecutor's Office said it had launched an investigation into the allegations.
On election night, the Belgrade Electoral Commission reported that the SNS won 39.3 percent of the votes in the Belgrade elections, and the Serbia Against Violence won 34.3 percent.
In the nationwide parliamentary vote, officials said that -- based on complete but uncertified results -- the SNS received about 46 percent of the vote and Serbia Against Violence won 23.5 percent.
Officials said final results on both parliamentary and local elections in Belgrade are still pending and could take months to determine.