Violent protest in Novi Sad, Petkovic tries to conceal the tragedy – links the event to Kosovo

During a protest in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city, demonstrators smashed the windows and doors of the town hall and threw bottles and fireworks inside. Police used tear gas to prevent them from entering the building.

Protests erupted after the deaths of 14 people when a train station marquee collapsed in this city, and demonstrators demanded accountability and resignation from the government.

The director of the so-called Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, tried to link these protests to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, without any basis. He added that this was no coincidence, although he had been misinformed that there were “Kurti extremists” desecrating the flag of Serbia.

“It is unacceptable that individuals desecrated the flag of Serbia and destroyed Serbian institutions in Novi Sad last night, as Kurti and his extremists are doing in Kosovo.” This is no coincidence, because Kurti and the rebels in Novi Sad have the same interest and the same method: that Serbia and everything Serbian is restrained and weakened through violence. But Serbia and the Serbian people will win! “After last night’s unpleasant scenes, it is clear that the anger of opposition activists has nothing to do with the tragic event in Novi Sad, sadness or sensitivity, but with insidious attempts to mistreat the victims,” Petkovic wrote on his social network X.

During the protest, the Novi Sad municipality reported that protesters threw red paint and stones at the building, breaking several windows. They said they wanted to enter the building to present their demands to the authorities. The protesters claimed responsibility for the tragedy and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vučević and the mayor of Novi Sad, Milan Gjurić. They set a deadline of 48 hours for the fulfillment of their demands. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the police had “shown great restraint during violent demonstrations” and that all perpetrators of the protest would be punished. Serbian Prime Minister Vucevic said the town hall was a symbol of the city and considered its vandalism an insult to the residents of Novi Sad. He accused the protesters of exploiting the “tragedy for political purposes.”

/TheGeopost