The anti-corruption protest movement that had remained entirely peaceful in Serbia for nearly nine months has begun to turn violent, triggered by provocations from hooligans sent by the government onto the streets to confront opponents. On the evening of Thursday, August 14, some of the thousands of demonstrators who had been protesting for several months against President Aleksandar Vucic vandalized several premises belonging to his party, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), in Novi Sad, the country’s second-largest city.
“Tonight, we have seen that these wonderful children and these wonderful citizens are simply destroying other people’s property,” Vucic said on Thursday evening. He warned that he might declare a “state of emergency” in response to the demonstrators he accused of attempting to “burn alive” his supporters the previous night during the clashes in Novi Sad, located 80 kilometers from Belgrade and the epicenter of the movement. At least 42 police officers were injured and 37 demonstrators arrested Thursday night across the country, according to Interior Minister Ivica Dacic: “These are no longer peaceful student demonstrations. This is an attack on the State,” he said.
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