Sun February 6, 2011
About 10,000 police officers gathered near the rally in front of the state parliament in downtown Belgrade to prevent it from turning violent, as similar protests by right-wing protesters have in the past.
The former allies of the late autocratic leader Slobodan Milosevic want early elections because of the country’s rising poverty, unemployment and falling living standards. They also accuse the government of corruption.
The nationalists promise economic recovery, higher salaries and new jobs, if they come to power. They have risen in popularity amid Serbia’s economic turmoil triggered by the global recession and the slow pace of the country’s integration into the European Union — the government’s main political goal.
“For 10 years, Serbia has lived under a corrupt and incapable government,” Serbian Progressive Party leader Tomislav Nikolic told the rally, as the crowd chanted “Thieves! Thieves!” and “Changes! Changes!”
“We will save Serbia when we take over,” he said.
Opposition leaders addressing the crowd — estimated by police at about 55,000 — threatened to blockade the capital if their demands to move parliamentary elections forward from 2012 are not met within the next two months.
“This is the last warning,” said an opposition leader. “We don’t want to do it like in Egypt or Tunisia. We just want elections.”