Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić acknowledged the scale of mass protests in Belgrade over the weekend, stating that those in power “need to understand the message.”
Public Meeting Archive, an independent monitor, said between 275,000 and 325,000 people across Belgrade turned out—making it the largest protest ever recorded in the country’s history.
“We got the message. Everyone in power needs to understand the message when so many people are protesting. We’re going to have to change and learn from it,” Vučić said in a televised address on Sunday.
However, he was firm in rejecting what he called “color revolutions,” emphasizing that Serbians wished to change their government through democratic elections, not through street protests.
“Color revolutions” is a reference to a series of often non-violent protests attempting changes of government and society that took place in post-Soviet states at the turn of the 21st century—for example, Georgia’s Rose Revolution in 2003 and Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004.
“The citizens of Serbia do not want violence and do not want the destruction of their country,” Vučić added.
Serbia’s student-led protest movement started when a newly built concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, in which 15 people were killed, including a student.
Many Serbians attribute the Novi Sad disaster to alleged rampant corruption, which they tie to the decade-long leadership of Vučić and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
They also accuse Vučić and SNS of ties with organized crime, stifling media freedoms and violence against political opponents. Vučić and his allies deny that.
Despite Vučić’s assurances that Saturday’s protests remained mostly peaceful, reports surfaced of alleged excessive force by authorities, including claims that security forces deployed a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), commonly referred to as a “sonic weapon.”
It is alleged the device disrupted a 15-minute moment of silence for victims of the Novi Sad tragedy, causing panic among demonstrators.
Vučić denied these accusations. “It is a vile lie. I have had the opportunity to see this weapon abroad, and it emits a strong, piercing sound. That sound was not heard on the streets of Belgrade on Saturday night,” he said.
“We got the message. Everyone in power needs to understand the message when so many people are protesting. We’re going to have to change and learn from it,” Vučić said in a televised address on Sunday.
However, he was firm in rejecting what he called “color revolutions,” emphasizing that Serbians wished to change their government through democratic elections, not through street protests.
“Color revolutions” is a reference to a series of often non-violent protests attempting changes of government and society that took place in post-Soviet states at the turn of the 21st century—for example, Georgia’s Rose Revolution in 2003 and Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004.
“The citizens of Serbia do not want violence and do not want the destruction of their country,” Vučić added.
Sonic weapon
Serbia’s student-led protest movement started when a newly built concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, in which 15 people were killed, including a student.
Many Serbians attribute the Novi Sad disaster to alleged rampant corruption, which they tie to the decade-long leadership of Vučić and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
They also accuse Vučić and SNS of ties with organized crime, stifling media freedoms and violence against political opponents. Vučić and his allies deny that.
Despite Vučić’s assurances that Saturday’s protests remained mostly peaceful, reports surfaced of alleged excessive force by authorities, including claims that security forces deployed a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), commonly referred to as a “sonic weapon.”
It is alleged the device disrupted a 15-minute moment of silence for victims of the Novi Sad tragedy, causing panic among demonstrators.
Vučić denied these accusations. “It is a vile lie. I have had the opportunity to see this weapon abroad, and it emits a strong, piercing sound. That sound was not heard on the streets of Belgrade on Saturday night,” he said.
Government accusations and opposition response
During his address from the Palace of Serbia, Vučić accused opposition figures, foreign intelligence agencies and independent media outlets of attempting to destabilize the government.
He described them as “tycoon-owned criminal media groups designed for pressure.”
Protest organizers, including Ivanka Popović, a former rector of the University of Belgrade, disputed Vučić’s claims.
“I think it's very important to note that there were some things in his words that don't quite ring true, and the student protests or the student-led protests so far have been peaceful,” she said.
“The incidents have been instigated by the authorities,” Popović said in an interview with TVP World.
“And if your government is willing to go with violence against its own people, I think we're coming to a very serious point in our country's history where the citizens will not stop until the change is achieved.”
Election prospects and EU implications
Vučić’s speech appeared to acknowledge growing dissatisfaction with his administration. “We will have to change ourselves, and we will have to learn a lot from this,” she admitted.
Serbia’s relationship with the European Union could also be affected by the protests. Popović suggested that the EU had tolerated Vučić’s autocratic tendencies for too long. “The EU has a transactional relationship with Vučić (...) He has been delivering some expectations of the EU; the EU has turned a blind eye to the obvious autocratic tendencies that he has.”
“But if Serbia is to move forward and align with the European Union, there has to be a change in government in this country,” she said.
Uncertain future
The protests, initially student-led, have drawn support from a broad spectrum of Serbian society. “There is actually no social group that has been left untouched by the corruption and mismanagement of this government,” Popović noted.
“People have overcome their fear of speaking out. We are seeing an awakening of active citizenship in Serbia.”
Popović described what is going on in Serbia now as “an active show of democracy in action.”
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