Serbian protesters clash with police amid anti-government rally in Belgrade

World Serbian protesters clash with police amid massive anti-government rally in Belgrade May 23, 2026 / 3:27 PM EDT / AP Add CBS News on Google Clashes erupted between groups of protesters and riot police after a huge anti-government rally on Saturday in the Serbian capital Belgrade attended by tens of thousands of opponents of the country's autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic.While the rally at a central square in Belgrade passed largely peacefully, groups of young demonstrators later split and clashed with riot police after the main gathering, throwing flares, rocks and bottles at police cordons, who responded with pepper spray as they charged forward to disperse them.The demonstrators rolled trash cannisters to the streets as shield-carrying riot police tried to surround them. Police parked anti-riot vehicles in a central Belgrade area to block the demonstrators from returning. A man throws a cobblestone at riot police as clashes break out during a rally led by Serbia's protesting university students who are pushing for major political changes in the Balkan country run by President Aleksandar Vucic, in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, May. 23, 2026. Darko Vojinovic/AP Protesters earlier on Saturday streamed into central Belgrade, many carrying banners and wearing T-shirts inscribed with the "Students win" motto of the youth movement. Columns of cars drove into Belgrade from other Serbian towns earlier in the day.Vucic has sought to curb student-led mass demonstrations that have shaken his hard-line rule in the Balkan country.Protester Maja Milas Markovic said students "managed to gather us here with their youth and wonderful energy; I really believe that we have [the] right to live normally." Anti-government protesters take part in a rally led by Serbia's protesting university students who are pushing for major political changes in the Balkan country run by President Aleksandar Vucic, in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, May. 23, 2026. Armin Durgut/AP The students l...