Instead of the traditional wild New Year's Eve street parties, tens of thousands of protesters led by university students gathered overnight in Belgrade and other Serbian cities to demand political reforms and justice in the country of the Balkans.
Protesters actively demonstrated after the tragic collapse of a concrete canopy at the central station in the northern city of Novi Sad on November 1, which left 15 people dead.
The tragedy was blamed on corruption and substandard construction practices by Serbia's populist leaders, leading to widespread public outcry and demands for accountability.
Students from several universities in Belgrade organized the protest under the slogan “There is no New Year — you still owe us last year.”
The noisy crowd, chanting “We want justice,” fell silent at 11:52 p.m. with 15 minutes left to honor the victims of the Novi Sad tragedy. Many of them held up banners with a red handprint, which has become a symbol of anti-government protests, to tell authorities that they had blood on their hands.
Earlier, they marched past a state-sponsored concert where the crowd danced to folk music. Police monitored the area where the concert was taking place and set up metal barriers while directing the protesting crowd to other nearby streets to avoid contact between the two groups.
Anti-government protesters stressed that, despite the holiday season, their commitment to seeking justice remains unwavering. The student-led movement garnered support from various social groups, including professors, farmers and actors, reflecting broader discontent with the leadership of autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic.
Thousands also gathered in Novi Sad and the southern city of Nis for parallel rallies also led by university students from those cities.
In Belgrade, state-sponsored concerts and other New Year celebrations were held in the city center and in a new area of Belgrade Waterfront, a skyscraper construction project, which Mr. Vucic said that it was his own project in collaboration with investors from the United Arab Emirates.
Belgrade has become a favorite party destination for tourists for New Year's celebrations, with street parties and huge fireworks displays.
Crowds in Belgrade braved the cold and fog to join the students. The New Year's protest comes just over a week after tens of thousands of people gathered with the students in what was one of the largest gatherings in recent years in the Serbian capital.
Serbia's prosecutor general on Monday charged 13 people, including a former minister, over the collapse of the concrete vault. Protesters say it's not enough because the indictment does not include accusations of possible corrupt deals during a Novi Sad train station renovation that was part of a broader deal with Chinese companies.
President Vucic earlier told pro-government Prva TV that all the students' demands had been met.
“I have always been ready to talk, I ask them now, but they don't want to talk to me, they have no arguments, the prosecutors have satisfied the last of their requests, all the documents they wanted were published and nothing happened,” President Vucic said, adding that he would not allow himself to be overthrown by street protests.
