(15 Mar 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Belgrade, Serbia – 15 March 2025
1. Various of protest at Slavija square, UPSOUND: singing of national anthem
2. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Sandra Zlatanovic, protester and professor of English:
"I am here because my heart is with the students, because I work in education. There are lot of my children, students here. And all of the Serbian children are my children. That’s why I am here. This is magnificent. As it was everywhere else until now."
3. Wide of protest
4. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Dejan Djurovic, protester and professor:
"I think the end of all this will be good, but I doubt that day is today. This will last for some period to come. Just seeing the number of people today in the street can only mean good for this country."
5. Various wides or protest
6. People sitting on roof
7. People watching from apartment
8. Woman signing national anthem
9. Various of protesters with tractors
STORYLINE:
Thousands of people gathered at different squares in Belgrade on Saturday for a mass protest against Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.
Protesters sang the national anthem in Slavija square as night began to fall, while others waved flags and lit flares.
Tens of thousands of people descended on Belgrade for the rally seen as a culmination of months-long protests.
Large crowds of flag-waving protesters clogged the downtown area of the capital despite occasional rain, with people hardly able to move and many stuck hundreds of meters away from the planned protest venue.
Protesters converged after meeting up at several agreed-on protest venues in various parts of the city, which was placed on high alert. All public transport was canceled.
Ahead of the demonstration, Vucic repeatedly warned of alleged plans for unrest while threatening arrests and harsh sentences for any incidents.
A deafening sound of whistles, drums and vuvuzelas filled the air on Saturday. Some protesters carried banners that read, “He’s Finished!” Crowds chanted “Pump it Up,” a slogan adopted during past four months of student-led protests.
The rally — which is probably the biggest anti-government protest ever held in the Balkan country — comes after more than four months of anti-corruption demonstrations that have posed the biggest challenge to Vucic’s grip on power after 13 years in charge.
Protesting university students have led the nationwide anti-graft movement, which started after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station and killed 15 people in Serbia’s north on Nov. 1.
Many in Serbia blamed the crash on rampant government corruption, negligence and disrespect of construction safety regulations.
With their call for justice for the victims, students have struck a chord among the citizens who are disillusioned with politicians and have lost faith in the state institutions.
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