Tens of thousands gather in Belgrade protest over mass shootings

Serbia’s main opposition parties protest against violence and in reaction to the two mass shootings in the same week, that have shaken the country, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 19, 2023. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

BELGRADE — Tens of thousands marched through Belgrade on Friday, May 19, in an anti-government protest following two mass shootings that killed 18 people, blaming the deaths on a culture of violence that critics said authorities have allowed to fester unchecked.

On May 3, a teenage boy killed nine pupils and a security guard in the first school mass shooting in Serbia, and a day later a 21-year-old man killed eight outside Belgrade.

Opposition parties, which organized the demonstration, said the government led by President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has failed to rein in media that have promoted violence and to act against criminal elements in society.

READ: Nine killed in planned attack at Serbian school by 13-year-old boy

Recent Serbian reality TV shows have featured convicted criminals including murderers and shown men beating up women.

Protesters called on Vucic, Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, and the head of Serbia’s security agency to resign.

“I came here to protest against living in this country the way it is now, against violence which is visible everywhere in public speech, in media, against this evil we are living in, and against the way this country is being led,” said a university professor who gave her name as Vera.

“This number of people makes me optimistic.”

READ: Eight dead in second mass shooting in Serbia, police hunt killer

Reuters estimated the protest, the third of its kind this month, drew a crowd in the tens of thousands.

The government denies the opposition parties’ allegations and accuses them of organizing the protests for political gain.

Gasic on Friday admitted in parliament that several criminal complaints had been filed against the 21-year-old shooter but were never processed.

In a counter-rally in Pancevo, a town outside Belgrade, Vucic accused the opposition of trying to use the mass shootings for self promotion. “Serbia is fed up with your revolutions,” he said.

READ: Serbians rally against violence after two mass shootings