EditVučić warns of “bandits ruling the streets” as opposition accuses him of provoking chaos
The president announced a “decisive state action to restore peace and order in Serbia” expected in the nexy 3-4 days
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić warned on Sunday that “gangs rule the streets, burning and beating” and that “if, above all, the state apparatus and all normal people do not oppose this, nothing will be left of the state and of us.”
Speaking at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade, Vučić said: “It is only a matter of days before they kill someone in the street, that is the only thing left to do. Either we will defend the values we have, or they will harass families in their homes, where they are now showing up, shaving and abusing people, while we hide like mice in holes.”
He stressed that “the country is in great danger, all our values, our democracy,” and that “everything normal people want is at risk.”
According to the president, the situation on Serbia’s streets resembles Germany in the 1930s or the actions of the Baader–Meinhof terrorist group in Germany and the Red Brigades in Italy.
“Then, in 1978, they killed Prime Minister Aldo Moro, and only then did the Italian state confront the gang,” Vučić said.
The president announced a “decisive state action to restore peace and order in Serbia,” accusing those who torch offices of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP), damage state institutions, and attack the police during protests seeking to overthrow the state order.
Another night of protests across Serbia: police deploy tear gas and stun grenades
The demonstrations in Serbia, fuelled by long-standing grievances over government corruption, media suppression, and democratic backsliding, escalated into violence in several cities, with party offices attacked and police responding with tear gas, stun grenades, and arrests.
The protests stem from widespread frustration with Vučić’s administration, which critics accuse of consolidating power and undermining democratic institutions. The SPP has dominated Serbian politics since 2012, with Vučić at its helm, first as prime minister and later as president.
At a press conference attended by top police officials and Interior Minister Ivica Dačić, Vučić said that within “three or four days” citizens would see that decisive action.
“At one moment you will see all the power of the state of Serbia, and we will use everything at our disposal to restore peace and order in the country (…) and we will win,” he said.
In the context of protests in Valjevo, Novi Sad and Belgrade, involving clashes with police and the destruction of SNS offices, Vučić questioned top prosecutors on whether they were aware of legal provisions and definitions concerning terrorism, which he cited at the press event.
Prime Minister Đuro Macut also described the situation as alarming, noting that “the attacks in Valjevo on state institutions and the complete destruction of state property are an obvious beginning of a strike against the judiciary,” according to a statement from his office.
He underlined that state institutions would “actively work on identifying and punishing organisers and perpetrators” in order to “prevent further escalation of a completely unjustified atmosphere of chaos and instability that is being created in Serbia.”
According to the prime minister, “coordinated ultraleftist vandalism represents a clear threat to the stability of society and the state order, as well as to the exercise of democratic rights of all citizens.”
Opposition voices rejected Vučić’s rhetoric. Danijela Nestorović, an MP from the Ecological Uprising movement, argued that instead of resolving the crisis, “which he himself provoked,” Vučić is “threatening and frightening citizens because that is all he has left.”
“The state is not his private property, nor a tool for intimidation,” Nestorović told the Beta news agency, reacting to Vučić’s press conference.
She said that “citizens are not enemies” but “those to whom he (Vučić) owes accountability.”
“He promises order and peace, but in fact spreads chaos,” she added.
Nestorović said that what Vučić called a “calm” was “not a sign of wisdom but of weakness,” while the “decisive action” he promised was “not a plan for the future, but an admission that the authorities have no answer other than force.”
“Our determination is different: to defend the right to protest, freedom of speech and life without fear. We do not want citizens to be subjects of one man, but free people in a democratic state,” Nestorović stressed.
She said that Serbia “does not need a calm” “a political solution and a change of power that has turned citizens into its hostages.”
Caption: Riot police officers stand guard during an anti-government protest in Belgrade, Serbia, 16 August 2025. Violent clashes broke out in Serbia this week between anti-government protesters, supporters of the ruling SNS party, and police. EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC
Updated: August 18, 2025 - 05:26
