In Serbia, thousands of anti-government protesters barricaded the streets of several Serbian cities on the night of 30 June and demanded the release of dozens of other demonstrators detained by police.
The student-led protesters erected metal fences and rubbish bins in Belgrade and blocked the Gazela Bridge, one of the Serbian capital’s most important transport hubs.
News agencies reported that protesters in the northern city of Novi Sad, where the current anti-government demonstrations began eight months ago, surrounded the offices of Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party, throwing eggs at the building.
A website set up by student organisers of the protests reported that 30 locations in Belgrade had been barricaded and that similar actions were taking place in at least 22 other Serbian cities.
Student protests intensified after law enforcers began detaining participants in a mass rally in Belgrade on 28 June.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said law enforcement was prepared to make “many more arrests.”
Prosecutors said the detainees were being held for up to 48 hours for committing violence and attacking police in Belgrade during mass student protests attended by an estimated 140,000 people.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said police had detained 77 people and at least 38 remained in custody as of 29 June.
For the past eight months, thousands of Serbs, often led by student groups, have taken to the streets to protest Vucic and his government. The collapse of the cement canopy of the Novi Sad railway station on 1 November, which killed 16 people, triggered one of the country’s largest protest movements in recent memory.
Protesters claim corruption and incompetence of officials caused the tragedy, the demonstrations quickly turned into a more general protest against Vucic, whose five-year term is due to end in 2027. He has been president since 2017 and was prime minister for three years before that.
Serbian parliamentary elections are also scheduled for late next year.
Vucic and his government deny corruption allegations and have said they are investigating the Novi Sad tragedy, which led to the arrest of about a dozen officials.
Small groups of government supporters also took to the streets of Belgrade over the weekend.
Vucic, who is trying to balance his ties with traditional ally Russia and the West as he seeks EU membership, accused unnamed “foreign forces” of involvement in the latest protests.