Thousands of protesters set up street blockades on major roads in Belgrade and other Serbian cities on Sunday night.

The action comes one night after demonstrators held a huge rally in the capital calling for snap elections and for right-wing populist President Aleksandar Vucic to be removed from power.

Anti-corruption activists said the street blockades were a response to the arrest of "a large number of citizens" after Saturday's rally in downtown Belgrade, which drew around 140,000 people.

Demonstrators erected metal fences and placed garbage containers across the city.

The demonstrators on Sunday demanded the release of dozens of students and other protesters who were arrested for clashing with police during the rally the previous night.

Serbian media reported similar blockades at smaller cities in the Balkan nation.

What are the protests about?

Serbia has been rocked by months of anti-government protests that were sparked by a deadly rail station roof collapse in November 2024 in which 16 people were killed. 

The accident has been widely blamed on government corruption and negligence.

Vucic has repeatedly rejected calls for an early election and accused unnamed "foreign powers" of fueling the student-led protest movement.

Earlier on Sunday, Vucic again rejected demands for early elections and accused the movement of causing "terror."

"Serbia has won, and you cannot defeat Serbia by violence as some wanted," Vucic said in a televised address.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are set for 2027.

Edited by: John Silk