(Bloomberg) — Hundreds of thousands of people massed in downtown Belgrade on Saturday to protest against the government led by President Aleksandar Vucic, in the biggest rally in Serbia’s recent history.
Protesters arrived in the capital from across the Balkan nation to demand changes in government and full accountability for the incident in Novi Sad in November, when a roof collapse at a railway station killed 15 people.
Serbia has been rocked since that event by protests, which were started by students and have now gained in momentum. Most members of the opposition now attend the rallies, accusing Vucic and his allies of mismanagement and corruption.
The resignation of Milos Vucevic as prime minister in January and the departure of other high-profile ministers, as well as arrests of other government officials, haven’t quelled public anger. Vucevic has remained a caretaker premier because Vucic hasn’t picked his successor yet.
Vucic, who has dominated the former Yugoslav republic of 6.6 million for almost 15 years, has vowed not to yield to pressure.
“We received the message, as every government should when so many people show up in protest, and we will have to change,” Vucic said in a live televised address after the protest, without elaborating. But he said the protesters also “need to understand the message they got from the country’s majority that stayed at home.”
Vucic repeated his contention that his political party, the Progressives, still enjoy the most popular support in the country. He also repeated a claim that the protests were incited from abroad.
About 50 people were hurt in skirmishes during and after the protest, but no one was seriously injured, according to Vucic. More than 20 people were detained.
In 2014, the 55-year-old leader opened negotiations over membership of the European Union, while maintaining close ties with Russia and China, a path he has described as “the Serbian way.”
Last week Vucic, also hosted Donald Trump Jr, who visited Belgrade. It was the second visit to Serbia by US President Donald Trump’s eldest son.
(Updates with President Vucic comments from sixth paragraph.)
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