Students, citizens and representatives of the opposition today blocked the building of the Ministry of State and Local Government, in the center of Belgrade.
This ministry is located on the same street as the Bulgarian embassy in Serbia.
The protesters demanded that the authorities immediately provide the full voter list from the December 17th vote.
While Belgrade was gripped by civil unrest, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he had spoken with the Russian ambassador in the Serbian capital, Aleksandar Botsan-Kharchenko.
"I repeated again that we will do everything to guarantee the security of the citizens and that of our Serbia. I conveyed to the ambassador our desire for our two peoples to welcome the New Year in peace and well-being," said Vucic.
Botsan-Kharchenko, in turn, said that the protests in Belgrade follow the pattern of the "Maidan revolution" because the West supports the Serbian opposition because Belgrade has a "strong position" regarding the sanctions that were imposed on Russia.
"Vucic has indisputable information about how the West organized these protests in Serbia... The opposition started the protests, which are stimulated from outside. Vucic told me about these things, but I cannot give details because these are classified data. However, he has indisputable evidence, that the support and encouragement comes from the West," said the Russian diplomat.
He expressed confidence that Vucic will remain in power in Belgrade, as the fact that they discussed the prospect of Russian-Serbian relations is a clear sign "that the Serbian leader is looking to the future."
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic also expressed her gratitude to Moscow because, according to her, Russian special services provided information to Belgrade about the planned protest against the Vucic regime.
"In all likelihood this will not be popular in the West, but tonight I feel it is important to protect Serbia and thank the Russian security services who had accurate information and shared it with us," Burnabic said.
At the same time, the rapporteur of the European Parliament (EP) for Kosovo, Viola von Cramon, said that the Russian secret services are visible in the events in Serbia. According to her, the people who caused disturbances at the protest of December 24, in front of the Belgrade municipality building, are persons connected to the regime.
Von Kramon claims this is a ploy that was also used during the Maidan, when members of the then-Ukrainian secret service, controlled by the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych, infiltrated protests against the former Ukrainian president to provoke a rise in tensions.
BGNES recalls that 35 people were arrested during the 7th protest against the Vucic regime, which took place on the night of December 24. The protest was organized by the opposition coalition "Serbia Against Violence". It was held in front of the Republican Electoral Commission, but later the crowd gathered in front of the Belgrade Municipality building. The protesters tried to storm the building, but the police intervened. There were numerous incidents during the protest. Some of the participants broke windows, doors, as well as video surveillance cameras, state television reported. The police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators./BGNES
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