Serbian opposition protests against election results

In Belgrade, hundreds of people took to the streets in protest following the announcement of election results by the electoral commission, Radio Liberty said, Report informs via RBC Ukraine.

Protesters, mostly supporters of the Pro-European Serbia Against Violence coalition, gathered outside the buildings of the electoral commission and city assembly in Belgrade. They demanded the annulment of the elections, accusing the ruling party, the Serbian Progressive Party, of illegally transporting people by buses from other regions and abroad to vote in the capital.

"We do not want and cannot recognize the elections in Belgrade because they are illegal: people from other countries were used," said Marinika Tepic, a representative of the "Serbia Against Violence" coalition in front of the Republican Electoral Commission (RIK) building.

Her colleague from the party, Miroslav Aleksic, later in the evening on December 17, called for the annulment of the voting results in the capital, stating that people were brought in to vote in Belgrade.

"Considering that over 40,000 people without legal residence in Belgrade were involved in supporting the SNS list, which drastically altered the electoral will of Belgrade residents, we demand the annulment of the elections in the city of Belgrade and a repeat of the voting for the city assembly," the coalition declared.

Later, Tepic and Miroslav Aleksic announced the commencement of a hunger strike. They will end it when the elections in Belgrade are annulled.

On November 1, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić dissolved the parliament and called for new parliamentary and local elections on December 17, 2023. The previous general elections in Serbia took place in April 2022, and the next scheduled parliamentary elections were planned for 2026.

Vucic announced the victory of the ruling party, the Serbian Progressive Party. However, the opposition considers the elections to be fraudulent.

Earlier, OSCE observers had stated interference by the authorities in the elections.