Over the past few days, the regime of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has increased its repression of peaceful demonstrators. In the western Serbian city of Uzice police arrested nine protesters. Yesterday, a local judge ordered their detention for up to 30 days.  

Among them is Vladan Sinđić, the head of the Green-Left Front (ZLF) group in the City council of Uzice (population 70,000). The Green-Left Front has been a member of the European Green Party since last year.  

Ciarán Cuffe, Co-Chair of the European Green Party, said: 'Serbia is a neighbour of the European Union and rightfully a candidate for membership. Students and citizens in Serbia are leading an incredible protest movement. The protests have remained peaceful, despite countless provocations from the Vučić regime. As Greens, we fully support the peaceful protests and their demand for an end to corruption and authoritarianism in Serbia.'

Vula Tsetsi, Co-Chair of the European Green Party, added: 'We condemn the police violence and the repression of political opponents. The people of Serbia deserve a future free from fear, corruption, and abuse of power. We call on the EU to break its institutional silence regarding President Vučić’s harsh repression, and for the European People’s Party (EPP) -  of whom Vučić’s party, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), is still an associate member -  to put pressure on Vučić to back down, to accept the students’ demands to allow free and fair snap elections.'

Background

For eight months, student-led protests and blockades have been growing across the country. In March the largest protest in Serbian history took place, with over 300,000 people gathering. On 28 June, 140,000 people joined the latest major protest in Belgrade. The demonstration was met with police violence. In response, civil disobedience actions have spread across Serbia. Peaceful protesters have faced repression, intimidation and arrests.