Protests in Belgrade
Kremlin: West wants to “destabilize” Serbia
December 25, 2023, 11:23 a.m
Thousands of demonstrators stormed the town hall in Belgrade after the Serbian election. They accuse the government, some of which were only narrowly re-elected, of electoral fraud. In Moscow, meanwhile, the finger is unsurprisingly pointed at the West.
After protests against the parliamentary election in Serbia, which was marred by allegations of fraud, Russia has accused the West of stoking tensions in the Moscow-friendly Balkan country. “The collective West’s attempts to destabilize the situation in the country are obvious,” Moscow Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the state news agency Ria Novosti. She compared the protests in Serbia with those on the Maidan in Kiev, which led to the overthrow of Kremlin-loyal Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in early 2014.
Because they doubted the results of the parliamentary election in Serbia, demonstrators in the Serbian capital Belgrade attacked the town hall on Sunday and clashed with the police. They threw stones at the town hall, broke windows and tried to break into the building.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said after the protests that two police officers were “seriously injured” and other officers suffered minor injuries. More than 35 people were arrested.
Vucic denies election fraud
Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won victories in early parliamentary and local elections in many cities, including Belgrade. In the capital, however, their success on December 17th was narrow. According to the opposition, this too had only come about through massive fraud. Election observers and the media reported numerous irregularities. Among other things, buses are said to have brought people from the Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina to the Belgrade Arena, where they cast votes without being eligible to vote.
Vucic denied the accusation of electoral fraud. The Serbian Higher Prosecutor’s Office said in Belgrade that it had been reported several violations of electoral regulations, including the activities in the Belgrade Arena.