• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Thousands March in Belgrade in Anti-Government Protest

by DC Editors - January 17, 2019

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin
Thousands March in Belgrade in Anti-Government Protest
2012 Protests in Belgrade – Image source

From Voice of America

Thousands of protesters marching in Belgrade to mark the anniversary of the assassination of a Kosovo Serb leader accused the authorities on Wednesday of covering up for the perpetrators of the unsolved killing.

The march, the seventh such anti-government protest since December 8, took place on the eve of a visit by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, an event expected to boost the popularity of President Aleksandar Vucic, who also heads the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

Protesters brought together by the Alliance for Serbia, a loose grouping of 30 opposition parties and organizations, marched in silence in the evening in tribute to Oliver Ivanovic, gunned down a year ago in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica.

“This is not only about Oliver, who was a man of peace, this protest is also about the climate of fear-mongering, this is because of a regime that is intimidating its own citizens,” said Nenad Nikolic, a 23-year-old student.

Ivanovic, 64, was shot dead on January 16 as he arrived at his party office in Mitrovica, a town bitterly split between Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians and minority nationalist Serbs, who dominate the northern region surrounding Mitrovica.

He had been facing retrial over killings of ethnic Albanians during Kosovo’s 1998-99 guerrilla uprising against repressive Serbian rule. Kosovo gained independence from Serbia in 2008 and Ivanovic subsequently became known as a relative moderate for advocating dialog and compromise with Kosovo Albanians.

Ivanovic also became one of the chief interlocutors for NATO, U.N. and EU officials based in Kosovo to help steer it towards stable democracy and rule of law.

“This is a symbolic day because we are not only marking the slaying of a great man, we are marking one year of a cover-up by the state and Pristina as well,” Stana Ilic, 59, said. “I hope this murder will be resolved once Vucic and his clique are replaced,” she said.

Three Serbs were arrested in connection with the killing in November 2018 when a special police unit sent by the Kosovo Albanian government in Pristina carried out a raid in the Serb-dominated north side of Mitrovica. They have yet to be charged.

On Wednesday protesters marched towards the biggest Orthodox church in Serbia, the Saint Sava Church, a site which Putin will visit. Dozens of thousands of SNS supporters are expected to come to the church on Thursday to greet the Russian leader.

Since he took power in 2012, Vucic has been performing a delicate balancing act between Serbia’s goal to join the European Union and maintaining close ties with Orthodox Russia. Vucic and his coalition have a majority of 160 deputies in the 250 seat parliament, but protests could shake their popularity.

“Dissatisfaction is there, it is a question of time if there is going to be more sustained risk to the government,” Florian Bieber, Balkans expert at the University of Graz, told Reuters.

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: International Democracy Tagged With: Balkan Nations, Democracy Protests, Europe, Serbia

About DC Editors

We are your source for news on the all important effort to establish and strengthen democracy across the globe. Our international team with dozens of independent authors are your gateway into the raging struggle for free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on election reform in the United States. See our Facebook Page and also follow us on Twitter @demchron.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | ALL NEWS | WORLD | Thousands March in Belgrade in Anti-Government Protest

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

PODCAST: Baby Boomers And American Gerontocracy

By Jenna Spinelle May 23, 2022

Older and younger voters are increasingly at odds: Republicans as a whole skew gray-haired, and within the Democratis, the left-leaning youth vote.

A Dangerous Reprise Of American Exceptionalism In Ukraine

By Jamie Lampidis May 15, 2022

The stakes are too high to cave into Putin’s phantasmatic imperial play, and too high to believe that this war can be won by arming Ukrainians.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

On The Coming End Of Roe v. Wade

By Peter J. Dellolio May 11, 2022

Anyone who says that the evolution of law has nothing to do with politics is either very corrupt or very stupid. Laws evolved through the centuries.

Goodbye Roe v. Wade, Goodbye Rule Of Law

By Andrew Straw May 5, 2022

Congress should impeach judges who act like that because it is not good behavior, and they were asked not to act that way when they were confirmed.

PODCAST: Debating The Future Of Debates

By Jenna Spinelle May 4, 2022

We love a good debate — and have certainly had plenty of them on this show. But how effective are they in today’s media and political landscape?

What “Pro-Palestine” Student Groups Get Wrong

By David Anderson, J.D. May 3, 2022

Back then – as now – this fit into a “colonialist” narrative of European Jews oppressing Arabs – an easy, eye pleasing but intellectually lazy fit.

Examining Government As A “Necessary Evil”

By Gary Berton April 29, 2022

Thomas Paine defines government as separate from society, and indeed if society functioned perfectly there would be no need for government.

Ukrainian And Polish History: Fighting The Empires

By Maxim Sidorenko April 26, 2022

On February 24th, Russia started an unprovoked war against Ukraine. It has become one more attempt of the empire to demolish the Ukrainian state.

PODCAST: What Student Debt Says About Democratic Institutions

By Jenna Spinelle April 26, 2022

In a new book, Josh Mitchell draws alarming parallels to the housing crisis, showing the catastrophic consequences student debt has had on families.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

From Cake To Volunteers, Welcome To Australia’s Democracy Day

From Cake To Volunteers, Welcome To Australia’s Democracy Day

May 25, 2022

The atmosphere in the interstate polling booth in Sydney’s inner east resembled that of an emergency room waiting for a donor organ.

Kenyan 'Cartooning For Peace' To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

Kenyan ‘Cartooning For Peace’ To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

May 17, 2022

Cartooning is an art that has been playing a major role in illustrating stories in different ways, from health to politics, and even sports.

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers' Anxiety, Even Online

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers’ Anxiety, Even Online

May 17, 2022

Organizational leader’s tweets can influence employee anxieties and this effect is more prominent since the rise of COVID-19, study.

North Korea Cracks Down On 'Capitalist' Pop Culture

North Korea Cracks Down On ‘Capitalist’ Pop Culture

May 6, 2022

North Korea has increased its campaign against “capitalist” style clothing, others, in broader crackdown on foreign pop culture.

DiCaprio, Ruffalo Urge Brazilians To Vote, Irking Bolsonaro

DiCaprio, Ruffalo Urge Brazilians To Vote, Irking Bolsonaro

May 6, 2022

Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo joined other celebrities making a final push for voters in Brazil to register to vote.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy