Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated that Serbia will not allow a scenario similar to the Ukrainian Maidan to unfold in his country as massive anti-government protests continue across the country.
The protests were initially triggered by a tragic incident on 1 November 2024, when a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in northern Serbia, killing 15 people.
While Vučić called for “severe punishment” of those responsible, protesters attribute the tragedy to corruption and nepotism in awarding construction contracts. They demand that Vučić himself take responsibility.
President Vučić refused to resign and characterized the protests as part of a Western-backed “colored revolution.”
Demonstrators have escalated their actions by blocking faculty buildings, government buildings, and organizing a 24-hour blockade of the main highway. The movement gained support from students, teachers, educational unions, and media associations.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić firmly rejected claims that authorities used excessive force during recent protests, according to a video statement posted on his Instagram account, RTS reports.
In the address, he dismissed multiple allegations made by protesters as “fabrications” designed to destabilize the country.
“I am proud of how Serbia maintained stability and peace, despite numerous attempts at destabilization,” the president said, dismissing allegations about attacks on protesters, road blockades, and misuse of tractors.
Vučić specifically denied reports about the use of a “sound cannon” to disperse protesters.
“They showed an ordinary anti-drone rifle on video and presented it as a sound cannon. The Serbian army simply does not have such weapons,” he stated.
Drawing parallels to the 2014 Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine, Vučić compared these allegations to claims that former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych deployed snipers against protesters during the Maidan events.
“That’s how they started here too, ‘Vučić, you shot at your own people,’ there aren’t really any injured, nothing happened to anyone,” he stated.
The Euromaidan protests in Ukraine, also known as the Revolution of Dignity, began in 2013 when then-President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union, instead favoring closer ties with Russia.
Yanukovych ordered snipers and riot police to shoot at protesters, killing over 100 of them, known as the “Heavenly Hundred.”
Initially focused on EU integration, the protests expanded to include calls for Yanukovych’s resignation, an end to government corruption, and rejection of Russian influence. Like Euromaidan, the Serbian protests are calling for government accountability, transparency, and an end to corruption.
Vučić promised that an investigation would be completed within 48 hours and those responsible for spreading “false information” would face consequences.
He also framed the situation as an existential matter for the country: “There have been too many jokes and games about bringing down Serbia. We will guard Serbia and defend it, Serbia will win.”
Estimates of protest participation vary significantly. Vučić claimed 88,000 people gathered in Belgrade, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported 107,000. The Archive of Public Gatherings, an unofficial organization, estimated between 275,000 and 325,000 demonstrators.
In January, amid the continuing demonstrations, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned.
