Serbia Protesters Summon Supporters to Join ‘Biggest Rally’

One of the Belgrade protests. Photo: EPA/Koca Sulejmanovic

Leaders of Serbian opposition parties and the organisers of recent mass protests have urged people from across Serbia to attend what they predict will be the biggest rally so far against the government led by the Serbian Progressive Party.

"One city, one protest, one goal!" the organisers of the "1 of 5 million" events wrote on Twitter.

Jedan grad, jedan protest, jedan cilj!

Subota 13.april u 15h ispred Narodne skupštine u Beogradu.#SviKaoJedan#1od5miliona pic.twitter.com/uxj7nbMCoe

— #1od5miliona (@STOPkrvavim) April 8, 2019

Leaders of opposition parties gathered in the Alliance for Serbia informal opposition bloc are also posting and sharing calls for people to come to the protest. "All as one," an opposition leader, Dragan Djilas, wrote on Twitter.

The April 13 event is seen as the climax of four months of regular weekend protests, which have gathered thousands of people in Belgrade but also in other cities and towns across Serbia.

Meanwhile, Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin and Belgrade deputy mayor Goran Vesic, said they decided to go on hunger strike starting on Friday. According to media reports, they will be joined by MPs of the ruling Progressive Party in the Serbian and Belgrade parliaments.

In his statement to Tanjug news agency on Thursday, Vesic explained this move as the "only reasonable and civilised way in which they could oppose the hooliganism and violence that the leaders of the Alliance conduct in Belgrade".

Since the protests started in December 2018, after an opposition politician was attacked in the south of the country, the rallies have spread to dozens of cities and towns. The...