President Aleksandar Vucic has condemned what he calls an “attempted violent takeover” amid protests in Serbia over alleged election fraud. Riot police have used tear gas and pepper spray against opposition supporters demanding the annulment of elections marred by claims of widespread fraud. Hundreds of protesters tried to storm Belgrade City Hall during demonstrations against the results of the parliamentary and local elections on December 17, which international observers say were marred by vote buying, ballot stuffing, and the improper influence of President Vucic.
Opposition supporters, chanting “Vucic thief” and “Vucic is Putin”, used flagpoles and rocks to break windows as they tried to break into the capital’s administrative building but were repelled by riot police. Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) were returned to power with a parliamentary majority after winning nearly 47 percent of the votes, according to preliminary results announced by electoral authorities. The centre-left opposition alliance Serbia Against Violence received 23.56 percent of the vote, followed by the Socialist Party of Serbia with 6.56 percent, according to electoral authorities.
Serbia Against Violence has claimed it was the rightful winner, especially in Belgrade, where there were reports of non-residents being recruited to vote. They have told European Union institutions, officials, and member nations that they will not recognize the outcome and called for an investigation.
Vucic has rejected opposition calls to rerun the vote, calling claims of irregularities “lies.” He said the protests were “not a revolution” and those seeking to destabilize the state would not succeed. Vucic said that the attempted violent takeover was evidence of “everything was prepared in advance” with assistance from abroad. He also announced that more than 35 people were arrested and more would follow.
Vucic and his party were previously rattled by anti-government protests in May, which began as demonstrations against back-to-back mass shootings before morphing into a broader anti-government movement.