Protesters attempt to break into Belgrade City Council building<\/p>\n
Pro-Western demonstrators have attempted to break into government buildings in Belgrade in what Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has called an attempted\u00a0\u201ccolor revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aleksandar Vucic praised police for withstanding\u00a0\u201cbrutal attacks\u201d\u00a0and preserving the country\u2019s independence and sovereignty.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday there was an attempt to seize state institutions by force. Those who swear to fight against violence have shown that they are real thugs,\u201d\u00a0Vucic pointed out.<\/p>\n
Vucic claims he was tipped off about the plot beforehand.<\/p>\n
Media reports said:<\/p>\n
Thousands of pro-Western opposition protesters gathered outside the Belgrade City Assembly on Sunday to protest the victory of Vucic\u2019s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) over the pro-EU Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition in parliamentary elections last week. The protest turned violent with a group of demonstrators attempting to batter down the doors of the building, until they were dispersed by police.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no revolution underway,\u201d\u00a0Vucic said in a public address.\u00a0\u201cNothing will go their way,\u201d\u00a0he continued, referring to the protesters.\u00a0\u201cThose who swear to fight against violence have shown that they are real thugs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The SPN coalition emerged out of anti-government protests following a pair of mass shootings in May. While the protest movement initially demanded the resignations of Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic and intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, it soon called for the fall of Vucic\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
Vucic claimed that the protest was sponsored by Western powers who wanted him removed from office over his cordial relations with Russia and refusal to abandon Serbia\u2019s claim to Kosovo, citing reports from foreign intelligence services.<\/p>\n
He reiterated these allegations in Sunday\u2019s address, thanking unnamed\u00a0\u201cforeign services\u201d\u00a0for letting his security services\u00a0\u201cknow exactly what the thugs were preparing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The term \u2018color revolution\u2019 describes a protest movement funded and organized by a Western government \u2013 usually the U.S. Aimed at toppling leaders opposed to U.S. interests, these revolutions are typically backed by U.S. intelligence agencies, and organized by a panoply of U.S.-funded NGOs. While the term became widely known following the 2003 \u2018Rose Revolution\u2019 in Georgia, the first successful use of color revolution tactics took place in Yugoslavia in 2000, when a U.S.-backed student movement forced the resignation of Slobodan Milosevic.<\/p>\n
The anti-Milosevic movement began with claims that the Yugoslavian leader had engaged in fraud in that year\u2019s election, claims bolstered by Western-funded \u2018election monitors\u2019 who were brought in.<\/p>\n
\u201cSerbia is fed up with your revolutions,\u201d\u00a0Vucic said during the initial \u2018anti-violence\u2019 protests earlier this year.\u00a0\u201cSerbia is fed up with the arrival of those under foreign influence and the destruction of everything that is Serbian.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier media reports said:<\/p>\n
Hundreds of anti-government protesters attempted to break into the City Assembly of Belgrade on Sunday evening, in an escalation of violence that the Serbian president blamed on foreign interference and called an attempted\u00a0\u201ccolor revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rioters claimed they intended\u00a0\u201cto liberate the institutions,\u201d\u00a0as they smashed the glass door while chanting\u00a0\u201cGet out\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cThis is Serbia!\u201d<\/p>\n
Police barricaded inside the building, holding the door with their backs and shields, according to videos of the unrest. At least two police officers were injured in clashes, as protesters pelted pieces of concrete, while urging them to leave the building and\u00a0\u201cstand on the side of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
National Assembly MP Radomir Lazovica, co-president of the Green-Left Front (ZLF), claimed that the opposition merely seeks to\u00a0\u201cdefend the institutions\u201d\u00a0and called\u00a0\u201con the Gendarmerie and all the forces that use force to take shelter and allow people to speak from the balcony of the assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one wants any harm or violence,\u201d\u00a0he said, as protesters continued to smash windows and vandalize the government building.<\/p>\n
Once riot police reinforcements arrived, authorities quickly dispersed the crowd, arresting at least 35\u00a0\u201cprovocateurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The head of Belgrade\u2019s Temporary Council, Aleksandar Sapic, shared a video of the aftermath, showing destruction inside and outside of the assembly building.<\/p>\n
The anti-government protests erupted in Serbia on Monday, with the opposition accusing the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of\u00a0\u201cvote theft\u201d\u00a0during last week\u2019s parliamentary elections that saw it win over the pro-EU Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition.<\/p>\n
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabi\u0441 has expressed gratitude to the Russian security services, which alerted Belgrade to plans for riots in the capital.<\/p>\n
While Vucic initially thanked unnamed\u00a0\u201cforeign services\u201d\u00a0for letting his security services\u00a0\u201cknow exactly what the thugs were preparing,\u201d\u00a0Brnabi\u0441 later revealed that Belgrade was tipped off by Moscow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel that it is important, especially tonight, to stand up for Serbia and to thank the Russian security services who had that information and who shared it with us,\u201d\u00a0Brnabic\u00a0told TV Pink on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can only say thank you, and it probably would not be popular with those from the West,\u201d\u00a0the prime minister said, adding,\u00a0\u201cWhen we shared that information with everyone else, they said: \u2018Well, that is Russian disinformation, that is spreading fake news.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the unrest in Belgrade, Vucic is expected to host Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko at his residence just across the square from the assembly where the protest took place, local media reported, citing the presidential press service. Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has also scheduled a meeting with the Russian envoy.<\/p>\n