Protests after the parliamentary and local elections have been going on in Serbia for more than a week. Supporters of the opposition political coalition "Serbia Against Violence" are protesting against possible fraud.
The elections in Serbia were held on December 17. The ruling right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of President Aleksandar Vucic won with about 47% of the vote in the elections to the National Assembly (unicameral parliament). The opposition party Serbia Against Violence won 23%.
The next day, an international observation mission, including representatives of the OSCE, the European Parliament and the European Council, reported a number of violations at polling stations, including cases of violence, bribery of voters and the stuffing of fake ballots into ballot boxes.
Vucic denies the allegations of fraud. The Serbian election commission also stated that they had not found any signs of it.
The protests, which began on December 18 in Belgrade with the participation of thousands of demonstrators, were peaceful until Sunday, December 24, when hundreds of protesters tried to break into the building of the capital's city administration, some of them smashing the windows in the building. Police used tear gas against the protesters, and dozens of people were detained.
On December 25, Serbian President Vucic called the clashes that took place the day before an attempt to overthrow the legally elected government of Serbia, provoked from abroad.
According to Serbian police, at least 38 people were detained during the protests. They are charged with attempting to forcibly change the constitutional order and overthrow the government, as well as violent acts. Eight police officers were injured in the clashes. The protesters, in turn, accuse the police of using unjustified violence against them.
Russia commented on the protests in Serbia.
Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin called on the current Serbian government to "protect the choice of the majority." "Everyone knows what happens otherwise: the country may not exist," Volodin wrote. At the same time, he accused the United States and the European Union of "organizing a coup attempt" and "stirring up the situation from the outside."