This demonstration is likely the most significant in Serbia’s history, featuring a minute of silence, speeches, and an unprecedented turnout of citizens expressing a desire for a different Serbia, according to the German news agency dpa regarding the large assembly of students and citizens in Belgrade.

The agency notes that hundreds of thousands of individuals answered the call by the student movement for the protests on the 15th. Aerial footage captured by various Serbian media outlets revealed that “the city center’s streets were filled with crowds.”

Participants from all regions of Serbia attended, with some students traveling from as far as 200 kilometers to the capital, where they received an enthusiastic and warm welcome.

The protest’s slogan, 15 for 15, references the tragic incident in Novi Sad that resulted in the deaths of 15 individuals, for which demonstrators hold the government accountable, largely blaming “the corruption tied to authoritarian President Aleksandar Vučić.”

“Critics of Vučić argue that his governance is rooted in corruption networks, limited media freedom, and manipulated elections. His control over the judiciary allows him to sustain a status quo that opposes the rule of law,” dpa explains.

Nonetheless, the agency points out that the demonstrators are not calling for politicians to resign; rather, they seek the steady enforcement of the rule of law and the prosecution of corrupt individuals.

Dpa highlights that in previous instances, demonstrators have faced attacks from “government supporters with vehicles or thugs affiliated with Vučić’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party.”

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reminds readers that ahead of the protests, both the European Union and the UN urged the Belgrade government to honor the right to protest and avoid violence.

Student organizations requested that participants demonstrate “peacefully and responsibly” through social media channels. “The objective of the movement is not to storm institutions or assault those with differing viewpoints,” the organizers affirmed, adding that “the movement must be safeguarded from exploitation.”

The publication recalls that President Aleksandar Vučić pledged on Friday evening to “do everything necessary to ensure the safety of the demonstrations,” while simultaneously warning that as president, “he will never permit the streets to dictate terms” and that “he will not yield to pressure.”

FAZ reported that just before the large protest in Belgrade, government backers gathered, including ultranationalists, militant group members, and individuals likely connected to hooliganism, who erected barricades near the parliament.

According to the Austrian news agency APA, among the regime supporters in Pioneer Park were “members of the infamous Red Berets special police and a group of suspected Kosovo Serbs for violence, who are loyalists to Vučić, primarily older men claiming to be ‘students eager to learn.'”

APA also noted that the presence of numerous bags of construction debris, concrete slabs, and stones in the city center prior to the protests raised concerns about potential street clashes, with fears that the predominantly peaceful demonstrations could devolve into chaos.

“Early on Sunday, there was an incident in Belgrade where one police officer struck another in the eye, but the regime attributed this act to students,” reported Štandard.

The Austrian agency further emphasizes that the protests are not specifically against President Vučić but are fundamentally against the Vučić system, which is associated with corruption, clientelism, regime propaganda, and institutional failure.

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