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MOSCOW, December 28 The West tried present Serbia with a choice: either join the sanctions against Russia, or, otherwise, they will try to stage a coup there, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“Now he (Washington) in recent years did not like that Ukraine was Russia's neighbor, and tried to build normal working relations with its neighbor. They began to drag them into the European Union under the slogan — “Either with us, or with Russia.” This “either or” has not disappeared anywhere. Look at Serbia, they are now being told the same thing «: let's join the sanctions against Russia, give up Kosovo, recognize it as completely independent, then we will accept you into the European Union. And if not, then they tried to stage a coup,» he said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
Supporters of the pro-Western opposition bloc “Serbia against violence”, who disagreed with the results of the December 17 elections, started riots on the night of December 25 and occupied the steps in front of the building of the representative and executive body of Belgrade, before which they blocked the adjacent street. They broke glass and threw pieces of paving stones at the doors and windows of the building, tried to break through, and the police responded with tear gas. Late on Sunday evening, police dispersed protesters in front of the Belgrade administration within minutes, clearing the square of them and setting up a cordon.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in an address to citizens against the backdrop of these unrest, said that these protests in Belgrade are an attempt to deprive Serbia of independence and sovereignty, the authorities will protect order. He also thanked the partner intelligence services of other states, which, according to him, warned the Serbian authorities about impending unrest. According to Vucic, about 2.5 thousand people gathered near the parliament building, less than half of them took part in the riots. According to the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, eight police officers were injured at opposition protests near the Belgrade Assembly, 38 protest participants were detained, they are suspected of “attempting a violent overthrow of the constitutional order.”
On Wednesday, the High Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade said that seven participants in the riots that occurred on the night of December 25, admitted guilt and agreed to fines and suspended imprisonment, two were released from custody, arrest was proposed for another 11.