Zagreb, 29 June 2025 (Hina/MIA) - Several protesters and police officers were injured Saturday evening after police intervened following the official end of a mass student protest in central Belgrade, during which the demand for early elections was reiterated.

Just before 10 pm, the students declared the end of their previously peaceful demonstration, which had drawn around 10,000 people.

“Take freedom into your own hands, we believe in you, you have the green light,” the students said at the official conclusion of the protest.

One student speaker said that, as of today, the government was considered illegitimate. She called for the calling and holding of “fair early parliamentary elections.”

The Rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, also addressed the crowd, saying that “non-violent struggle brings lasting and profound change in society.”

An hour before the protest officially ended, police had deployed cordons around government buildings and the presidential offices. Around 10 pm, they began clashing with demonstrators.

The police warned the public, but were forced to intervene after being attacked, police director Dragan Vasiljević told journalists. He added that six police officers and two civilians were injured, and that “a number of hooligans have been arrested and will be prosecuted.”

“All units acted in an extremely professional manner, and only minimal force was used to prevent those attacking the police and the state from succeeding,” he said at an emergency press conference.

Emergency medical services could not confirm to journalists how many injured individuals had sought medical assistance.

President Aleksandar Vučić said earlier that he expected violence, asserting it was “impossible for someone to invest vast amounts of money against a country without at least attempting something.” He added that “the state will prevail.”

Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić told television viewers that what was happening on the streets of Belgrade had nothing to do with students. “These are not students tonight, they are terrorists and saboteurs,” she said, claiming they want President Vučić to be overthrown and for Kosovo to gain independence.

Following two hours of police intervention and the dispersal of demonstrators from the city center, the situation in the Serbian capital began to calm, although some streets remained closed to traffic.

The government has labelled the mass anti-government protests, led by students following a tragedy in Novi Sad on 1 November last year, as a “color revolution.”