Serbian riot police separate rival crowds of opponents and loyalists of autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic, a day after tens of thousands of people joined a huge rally in the northern city of Novi Sad marking the first anniversary of a train station disaster there that killed 16 people, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Serbian riot police separate rival crowds of opponents and loyalists of autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic, a day after tens of thousands of people joined a huge rally in the northern city of Novi Sad marking the first anniversary of a train station disaster there that killed 16 people, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Loyalists of autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic shout slogans during protest in front of the parliament building, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Serbian police guard a camp of President Aleksandar Vucic's loyalists as Dijana Hrka, the mother of one of 16 victims of a train station tragedy in northern Serbia a year ago, launched a hunger strike surrounded by anti-government protesters in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbian riot police separate rival crowds of opponents and loyalists of autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic, a day after tens of thousands of people joined a huge rally in the northern city of Novi Sad marking the first anniversary of a train station disaster there that killed 16 people, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
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Serbian riot police separate rival crowds of opponents and loyalists of autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic, a day after tens of thousands of people joined a huge rally in the northern city of Novi Sad marking the first anniversary of a train station disaster there that killed 16 people, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
DMV
Loyalists of autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic shout slogans during protest in front of the parliament building, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
DMV
Serbian police guard a camp of President Aleksandar Vucic's loyalists as Dijana Hrka, the mother of one of 16 victims of a train station tragedy in northern Serbia a year ago, launched a hunger strike surrounded by anti-government protesters in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Hundreds of riot police Sunday separated opponents and loyalists of Serbia's autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic in central Belgrade as political tensions boiled after a year of persistent anti-government protests.
Several thousand people faced off on both sides of the police cordons with officers in full gear standing in several rows between the shouting crowds who threw bottles and flares at each other.
Tensions in Belgrade soared a day after tens of thousands of people joined in the northern city of Novi Sad that marked the first anniversary of a train station disaster there which killed 16 people, and triggered a youth-led movement demanding political changes, which has
Anti-government protesters in Belgrade gathered in support of Hrka earlier on Sunday said she was launching a hunger strike near a tent camp outside the parliament building which has been occupied by Vucic’s loyalists since March.
Protesters on Sunday evening also gathered in Novi Sad and some smaller towns in support of Hrka.
also reflected major discontent with Vucic's 13-year-long increasingly authoritarian rule. Youth-led protesters are demanding an early election they hope would oust the populist government from power.
Protesters believe that rampant government corruption and nepotism during renovation work on the Novi Sad station building led to negligence and disregard of the construction safety rules, and consequently to the collapse of the concrete canopy on the people standing below.
Hrka said she was seeking accountability for . She has also demanded that all detained protesters be released and that Vucic schedule an early parliamentary election as sought by the university students at the forefront of the demonstrations.
Vucic set up the loyalists' camp ahead of a major . The enclosed zone colloquially known as “Caciland" apparently serves as a human shield for Vucic, filling a park and a street between his office and the parliament building.
Police have guarded the camp while the area has been off limits for the residents of Belgrade. there last month has
Authorities have n recent months, with hundreds detained and police breaking up protests. Pro-government media and officials have branded protesting university students as “terrorists,†accusing them of inciting violence.