Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has appealed for calm following recent clashes in Belgrade and other areas between ruling party activists and protesting students, according to local media reports. Speaking during a visit to the State Data Centre in Kragujevac, Vucic urged everyone to maintain composure. He stated, “I call on everyone to calm down.
Let everyone present their programmes, let them express their positions, let them go to the podiums, but not call for killing, not call for violence.” He further questioned the appropriateness of retaliatory violence, asking, “I also ask my people, if you are attacked, should you also hit back?”
During the address, Vucic announced that early parliamentary elections in Serbia are expected within two to six months. He added that he would congratulate any political opponents who win on the same evening. Regarding public sentiment, Vucic asserted that available polls did not indicate that the student list held comparable popularity to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party.
The student protests, which have involved blockades at over 60 faculties across Serbia in 2024 and 2025, are centered on anti-government demands and calls for early elections. These protests gained momentum following a significant incident in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, when a canopy at a renovated railway station collapsed, resulting in 16 fatalities and one serious injury. The student demonstrators have declared they will not participate in the upcoming vote, opting instead to support a slate of public figures with no prior political involvement.
Topics: #calm #call #let
It will be interesting to see how the calls for calm translate into de-escalation in the coming days.