Daily newspapers in Serbia had different coverage of the ‘Serbia against violence’ protest which according to some assessments gathered tens of thousands of citizens in the capital city of Belgrade on Saturday. Compared to the week ago, the pro-government tabloids had more moderate reports on the rally.
The Danas daily reported this was “the largest rally since October 5” and that “rivers of people” flowed down the streets of Belgrade.
According to the Nova daily, the gathering was the largest anti-violence rally so far. Half of the cover page of this daily newspaper was dedicated to the protest with the headline ‘Serbian spring’.
On the other hand, the Vecernje novosti daily made no mention of the protest at all. The main topic of its Saturday issue was a Kosovo-related subject. However, the daily did cover the rally in Pancevo that was held simultaneously with the Belgrade protest and was attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
The main topic of the Saturday issue of the EuroBlic daily was a new system for reporting the violence in schools.
The Politika daily had the Pancevo gathering as the main topic on its cover page, noting just briefly that Belgrade’s busiest bridge Gazela has been “blocked again.”
The Informer tabloid’s main headline on Saturday was ‘It is clear who is fighting for Serbia, and who is wishing for chaos’, emphasising that the Gazela bridge was blocked by “10,000 haters,” while there were “30,000 people with Vucic in Pancevo.”
Both Kurir and Blic dailies carried that there was a protest in Belgrade, while the Srpski telegraf daily reported that “tragedy is used for political purposes.”
The Alo tabloid put the Belgrade protest in the spotlight, commenting that “foreign lobbyists, Kurti (Kosovo prime minister) and local opposition are on the same side,” and titling the article ‘A total attack on Serbia’.