300,000 join anti-graft rally in Serbia's capital

The massive turnout confirms that dissatisfaction is immense and that there is no going back to the old ways,

Maja Kovacevic, the dean of Belgrade's Faculty of Political Science, told AFP

Saturday's protest marked the beginning of the end for the regime and represents a major victory for the student movement and the citizens,

added political analyst Srdjan Cvijic of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy

The smarter side doesn't back down, the smarter side organises,

a leading student group wrote in a post on social media after Saturday's demonstration

It's also important to recognize that the cause of the protests runs deeper — many people perceive the state as corrupt and are broadly dissatisfied with Vučić’s government. They are calling for greater press freedom and accountability,

Helena Ivanov, senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Institute, told Fox News Digital

Serbia categorically denies the baseless accusations that any illegal weapons, including so-called ‘sound cannons,’ were used against demonstrators in Belgrade,

Djuric said

Vucic is hoping that protests in Serbia will stop, but they are growing increasingly,

Stradner added

Moscow and Belgrade pledged to combat color revolutions together in 2021. This is dangerous as Russia can provide Serbia with intelligence support,

Ivana Stradner, research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital

The Belgrade Center for Security Policy strongly condemns the unlawful and inhumane deployment of prohibited weapons, such as acoustic devices, against peaceful protesters during a public gathering of hundreds of thousands of citizens paying tribute to victims of the collapsed roof in Novi Sad,

the group said in a statement

At the heart of the situation lies a deep atmosphere of distrust, particularly as the ruling regime continues to attempt to [delegitimize] both the protesters and their demands,

said Subotic

All people in the government have to understand the message when this many people gather. We will have to change ourselves,

As rallies were underway Saturday, Vucic said ... he said at a news conference

This annoys people because … they can sense that he’s not serious about these changes,

she said

What Vucic is doing right now is being seen as patching things up, not seriously addressing the concerns,

she said

We couldn't run away from it — we didn’t know what to do. You don’t know if something will fall on your head or hit you from the side,

Simin said

We will seek justice because what they did is not normal,

Simin said

Dušan Spasojevićpolitical scientist

It's clear students aren't sure how to intensify the protest from here. There were no clear announcements about what's next. Meanwhile, some protesters stayed on the streets, wanting more, but without knowing what or how to achieve it,

Spasojevic told DW

We're here to support these brave young people, people who just want to live in a country where the rule of law works, nothing more,

an elderly protester said

This is a rare moment where the whole of Serbia is united under one cause. Even if the country doesn't change after this, we'll know that we stood up together and made our voices heard,

a young man said at the protest in Belgrade

I came for my child, for my son, so that his future can be better,

a young man told DW

Since this started, something has already shifted: a change in collective awareness. It's not enough, but it's a fantastic start,

added a young woman

We will no longer allow corruption to endanger anyone's life, as happened in Novi Sad, where it claimed 15 lives,

a student speaker told the cheering crowd, referring to the collapse of the canopy at the main railway station of Serbia's second-largest city on November 1, 2024, which had only just been renovated