Who stands behind the protests in Serbia still remains unclear
Thousands of citizens are protesting in Serbian cities, yet their demands remain unclear and the organizers unknown.
Citizens who have gathered to protest for the second day in a row told the reporters of Insajder that they are revolted by the presidential election results, that they are fighting dictatorship and media censorship, and that they are generally discontent with the state of Serbian society.
Most of the protesters responded to Insajder’s reporters that they heard about the protests on social networks and that there are no official organizers of the protests.
Protests began a day after the presidential election in Serbia, in which current Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic won with 55 percent of the popular vote.
On Tuesday, tens of thousands, mostly youth, protested not only in Belgrade, but also in Novi Sad, Nis, Cacak, and other cities.
Although there were no banners at the protests to indicate involvement of political parties, some of the opposition presidential candidates supported the protests. Among them are presidential candidate and former Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic and the leader of right wing party Dveri (Doors) Bosko Obradovic. At the protests, both leftist and rightist banner slogans could be seen.
Different groups were handing out flyers at the protest in Belgrade. A so far unknown group “Belgrade Youth Action” emerged from the protest calling the citizens to “agree on mutual demands.” Even the extremist right wing groups came, but only to monitor the demonstrators.
Protests in Belgrade passed off without any major incidents. Only a few torches were lit in front of the Serbian Government building, and a smaller group of citizens tried to enter the House of Serbian Assembly but the police prevented them in doing so.
Mina Milanovic