More than 130 police officers have been injured so far, right-wing president Alexanderwychick said at a press conference in Belgrade that dozens of citizens have also reported injuries and are seeking medical assistance.
On Saturday, violence flares up in Belgrade, Novi Sado and Valevo, where a small group of masked men attacked and set fire to the empty offices of Vitic’s dominant Serbian progressive party.
“We will see the full resolve of the Serbian state. We will use everything at our disposal to restore law, peace and order,” Wüch said.
He added that the government needed several days to prepare a “legal and formal framework” for the response.
“It’s going to be very different from what we’ve seen so far,” he added without giving details, but said he’s not thought to be declaring a state of emergency.
Vucic compared anti-government protesters to “terrorists.” This is a term he has been repeating frequently since the massive demonstrations began late last year.
Almost daily protests have been seizing Serbia since November following the collapse of the railway station roof, which killed 16 people.
This tragedy has become a symbol of deep-rooted corruption in the Balkan countries, with the demand for a transparent investigation into early election calls.
At their peak, the protests drew hundreds of thousands of people on the streets.
Most peaceful demonstrations got worse earlier this week when a large group of large government supporters, many of whom were masked and armed with batons and fireworks, attacked the protesters.
It caused violent clashes and further promoted to video shared online, showing police hitting unarmed protesters with batons.
Police denied allegations of atrocity and denounced the officers’ demonstrators who attacked them.
rhm/