Serbian right-wingers with symbols of Wagner protest against the dialogue with Kosovo

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said the state will not allow violence and will act immediately after right-wing protesters attempted to enter the Serbian Presidency.

Vucic held a meeting with security services after the pro-Russian right-wing protest in Belgrade.

“The state will not allow bandits and extremists with outside help, either from the West or the East, to threaten the constitutional order,” he told Pink Television.

Vucic did not provide further details on the issue.

Serbian right-wingers gathered in Belgrade on February 15 to protest against Serbian authorities and the EU-mediated dialogue with Kosovo.

Symbols of the Russian mercenary group Wagner were also visible at the protest, which was organized by the far-right organization People’s Patrol. In addition, the demonstrators chanted insulting messages to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

Members of the Serbian gendarmerie prevented right-wingers from entering the Serbian presidency building.

Earlier, protesters had removed some of the fences placed near the presidency and some threw eggs at the building.

They went to the main entrance of the presidency to, they said, deliver their demands to Vučić. According to them, the main demand is to end the dialogue with Kosovo.

As reported by journalists from Radio Free Europe, who covered the event, some participants of the protest carried Wagner symbols and the letter Z, which has become a symbol of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The head of the “People’s Patrol,” Damjan Knežević, in an address to the demonstrators, said that no one in Serbia’s leading party, the Serbian Progressive Party, “should call themselves Serbian.”

Knežević also addressed foreign media journalists in English, saying that participants at the event “prefer the Russian proposal” for Kosovo and not the European one, or what is also known as the Franco-German proposal, which is about the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia..

The protesters chanted “Serbia, Russia.” Organizers of the protest called on Serbian authorities to withdraw from negotiations with Kosovo, a state that declared independence 15 years ago.

A few hours before the protest, the Serbian Interior Ministry said it had arrested two people – who were found with weapons – who were on their way to attend the event in Belgrade.

The statement to the media said that a gun and ammunition were found on them during the arrest.

“People’s Patrol” confirmed via their Telegram channel that two members of this organization were arrested.

“People’s Patrol” is an organization known for actions against migrants and for organizing events in Belgrade in support of Russia after the Kremlin launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

In November 2022, the head of this organization, Damjan Knežević, visited the Wagner Center in Russia.

The Knežević-led organization also made a mural in Belgrade honoring Wagner.

Serbia refuses to impose sanctions on Russia, despite being an EU candidate country, and maintains good bilateral relations with Moscow./REL/