2023 Serbian election protests

Protests in Serbia

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2023 Serbian election protests

Part of 2023 Serbian parliamentary election
Date| 18 December 2023 – present
Location|

Belgrade, Serbia

Caused by| Electoral fraud in the 2023 parliamentary and Belgrade City Assembly elections
Goals| Annulment of the results of the 2023 elections
Methods|

* Demonstrations
* hunger strike
* riots
* civil disorder
* civil disobedience

Parties

Anti-government protesters

* Citizens

Opposition organisations

* Serbia Against Violence
* Students Against Violence

Government of Serbia

* Police

Government parties

* Serbian Progressive Party
* Socialist Party of Serbia

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Lead figures

* Marinika Tepić
* Miroslav Aleksić
* Vladimir Obradović
* Srđan Milivojević
* Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta

* Aleksandar Vučić
* Ana Brnabić
* Aleksandar Šapić
* Bratislav Gašić

Casualties
Injuries| 7 police officers severely injured
Arrested| 35 protesters arrested

In December 2023, a series of mass protests began in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, after the parliamentary and Belgrade City Assembly elections on 17 December. The protests have been organised by the Serbia Against Violence coalition, which called for the annulment of the election results. There was a riot during the protests on 24 December making it the first violent encounter during the protests.

## Background[edit]

Further information: 2023 Serbian protests, 2023 Serbian parliamentary election, and 2023 Belgrade City Assembly election

A populist coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power after the 2012 parliamentary election, along with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).[1][2] In May 2023, a school shooting occurred in the Vračar municipality of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and a mass murder in the villages of Dubona, Mladenovac and Malo Orašje, Smederevo.[3][4] Mass protests, named Serbia Against Violence, began shortly after the shootings.[5][6] These protests lasted until November 2023.[7]

Amidst the protests, opposition parties organising the protests formed the Serbia Against Violence coalition for the parliamentary, Vojvodina provincial, and Belgrade City Assembly elections, which were scheduled for 17 December 2023.[8][9] The elections on 17 December were marked with electoral fraud, according to reports of those who monitored the elections, including CeSID, CRTA, and Kreni-Promeni organisations.[10][11][12] The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights concluded that SNS had a "systematic advantage which created unfair conditions in the elections" and that Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, heavily dominated the election campaign, despite not being a candidate in it.[13] Stefan Schennach [de], the chief of the delegation of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that monitored the elections, said that "the elections were not fair" and that "the victory in Belgrade was stolen from the opposition".[14][15] Vučić and SNS denied all of the electoral fraud allegations.[11] Ana Brnabić, the prime minister of Serbia, accused the opposition and CRTA of "destabilising Serbia and its constitutional order".[16]

## Timeline[edit]

Thousands of people demonstrated and rioted in Serbia capital city of Belgrade which was an anti-government. Which people tried to break inside of the Stari dvor also known as the Old Palace which houses the City Assembly of Belgrade in which windows were broken and some opposition leaders named Srdjan Milivojevic and Vladimir Obradovic tried to open the door to the rioters. The police defeated the rioters and they used pepper spray and teargas to succeed in that.[17] There were 35 people arrested in the riots and there were no immediate reports of injuries[18] The president of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić called it an attempt to overthrow the government orchestrated from abroad. He also called the demonstrators "thugs" and would not destabilise the state.[18]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Izbori 2012: Rezultati i postizborna trgovina" [2012 elections: Results and post-election trade]. Vreme (in Serbian). 10 May 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
2. ^ "Srbija ima novu vladu" [Serbia has a new government]. Deutsche Welle (in Serbian). 27 July 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
3. ^ "Belgrade shooting: Teen made 'kill list' for Serbia school attack". BBC News. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
4. ^ Dragojlo, Saša (5 May 2023). "Second Mass Shooting in Two Days Stuns Serbia, Killing Eight". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
5. ^ "Protest protiv nasilja: Građani tražili ostavke, organizatori – na ulici 50.000" [Protest against violence: Citizens demanded resignations, organisers - there are 50,000 demonstrators on the streets]. N1 (in Serbian). 8 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
6. ^ "Srbija i protesti: Desetine hiljada ljudi pod kišobranima zahteva promene" [Serbia and protests: Tens of thousands of people under umbrellas demand change]. BBC News (in Serbian). 27 May 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
7. ^ "Poslednji protest "Srbija protiv nasilja" u ovom formatu: Građanima poručeno "Nemojte da prespavate 17. decembar"" [The last "Serbia Against Violence" protest in this format: Citizens said "don't sleep through 17 December"]. N1 (in Serbian). 4 November 2023. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
8. ^ Dragojlo, Saša (27 October 2023). "Serbia's Pro-European Opposition Makes Unity Pact for Elections". Balkan Insight. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
9. ^ "Vučić raspisao vanredne parlamentarne izbore za 17. decembar" [Vučić announced snap parliamentary elections for 17 December]. N1 (in Serbian). 1 November 2023. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
10. ^ "CeSID dosad zabeležio više od 50 nepravilnosti na izborima" [So far, CeSID recorded more than 50 irregularities in the elections]. N1 (in Serbian). 17 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
11. ^ a b "Serbia's ruling populists claim sweeping victory in election amid vote-rigging accusations". The Guardian. 18 December 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
12. ^ Kirby, Paul; Delauney, Guy (17 December 2023). "Serbia election: Vucic claims big election victory for ruling party". BBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
13. ^ "ODIHR: Ozbiljne neregularnosti na izborima, predsednik doneo prednost jednoj listi" [ODIHR: Serious irregularities in the elections, the president favoured only one list]. N1 (in Serbian). 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
14. ^ "Šef posmatračke delegacije: Istina je šokantna, video sam listiće napravljene u kopirnici" [Head of the observation delegation: The truth is shocking, I saw ballots made in the copy shop]. N1 (in Serbian). 19 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
15. ^ fon Namen, Aleksandra (19 December 2023). "Šenah za DW: Pobeda u Beogradu ukradena je opoziciji" [Schennach for DW: The victory in Belgrade was stolen from the opposition]. Deutsche Welle (in Serbian). Retrieved 20 December 2023.
16. ^ "Brnabić: Opozicija, CRTA i druge NVO pokušavaju da destabilizuju zemlju" [Brnabić: The opposition, CRTA and other NGOs are trying to destabilize the country]. Tanjug (in Serbian). 22 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
17. ^ "Serbia protests: Anti-government demonstrators try to storm Belgrade city hall". 24 December 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
18. ^ a b "Police in Serbia fire tear gas at election protesters threatening to storm capital's city hall". AP News. 24 December 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.