Serbia protest over election turns violent, Vucic calls for calm

Riot police in Serbia’s capital fired pepper spray to repel a few thousand protesters who tried to storm Belgrade City Hall amid a dispute over recent elections that opposition parties and European observers say were marred by irregularities.

President Aleksandar Vucic’s dominant Progressive Party won the December 17 vote for the parliament but in a much tighter race held the same day for control over the capital, neither the president’s ruling party nor the main challenger, a coalition named Serbia Against Violence, gained a majority. The opposition demanded annulment of all results due to reports of vote-buying and unfair election conditions.

Peaceful opposition-led protests over the last week lapsed into violence on Sunday as a group smashed the doors of Belgrade City Hall but were stopped by the police. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

“No revolution is in progress and they will not succeed in anything they’re doing,” Vucic said in a televised ad hoc address to the Balkan nation. He called for calm and said the protest is a “product of much more serious geopolitical circumstances.”

Rejecting the claimed about rigged elections, he also vowed to defend Serbia’s “independence and sovereignty” against any threat.