Unrest in Serbia: Students Arrange a Blockade in the Capital, Belgrade, Claiming Election Theft

Protesting suspected election fraud, hundreds of Serbians, mostly students, gathered in downtown Belgrade on Friday and blocked a major thoroughfare in the city.

Since the legislative and municipal elections on December 17, when President Aleksandar Vucic’s party claimed a resounding win, this was the first scheduled day-long blockage. The outcomes have been disputed by opposition parties.

Serbia Against Violence, the largest opposition alliance, claimed that voters of ethnic Serb descent from neighboring Bosnia had been permitted to cast unlawful votes in the city.

While several Western countries expressed worry about the election process, foreign monitors also noted anomalies.

The students, who are organized under the Borba (“Fight”) movement, are demanding that fresh elections be conducted and the election results be revoked.

Jovana Kostadinov, a 19-year-old student at the Belgrade University Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Biology, told AFP that “no justice has been done regarding democratic processes in our country, literally for decades.”

“I feel hurt that my vote was not respected when I was finally able to cast one,” she said.

Activist Ivan Bijelic questioned the students demonstrating, “Who stole the elections?” They chanted back, “Thieves, thieves!”

Other children joined the students in setting up a makeshift camp with tents and sleeping bags, while others sat at the crosswalk near the government buildings.

“We will not allow you (Vucic) this,” one of the demonstrators’ placards said.

Another one said, “Euromaidan Serbia,” alluding to the wave of pro-EU protests that swept across Ukraine in 2014.

Several hundred demonstrators who had assembled earlier in front of the state election commission joined the students on Friday night.

The demonstrators want to join another protest later in the day, which will be organized by a group of intellectuals, artists, and celebrities who are encouraging people to vote before the elections, after the blockage breaks at noon on Saturday.

According to official figures, the main opposition alliance received 23.5 percent of the vote in the parliamentary elections, while Vucic’s right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) received almost 46 percent.

In Belgrade, demonstrators have sometimes created barriers since the elections.

The demonstrations reached its zenith on Sunday night when protesters attempted to assault Belgrade city hall and were repelled by police using pepper spray.

Over thirty demonstrators were taken into custody when they attempted to break in to the capital’s administration building using rocks, eggs, and flagpoles.