Serbian Progressive Party

The Higher Court in Montenegro on Thursday sentenced 13 people, including two Russian military intelligence officers and two opposition leaders, to up to 15 years in prison for staging an attempted coup in 2016.

They were found guilty of plotting to commit "terrorist acts" and undermine the constitutional order of Montenegro during the parliamentary elections in October 2016.

Speaking at an event organized by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party in Belgrade on May 4, Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said that Serbian GDP grew last year by 4.3 per cent.

The minister said this "has put Serbia among the [top] 10 economies of Europe in terms of GDP growth, and means we no longer compete with countries in the region".

Protesters wave Serbian flags during a protest walk in Belgrade on April 13. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC

One of the Belgrade protests. Photo: EPA/Koca Sulejmanovic

Leaders of Serbian opposition parties and the organisers of recent mass protests have urged people from across Serbia to attend what they predict will be the biggest rally so far against the government led by the Serbian Progressive Party.

Elections could also further stimulate the discontent of a large number of citizens who have been holding weekend protests since December 8 last year against Vucic and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party, SNS.

Anti-government protesters in Belgrade on Saturday evening carried medical masks in mockery of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, whose recent photo-shot alongside a sick child in a hospital angered critics who called it a cynical gesture.

A long column of people attending the tenth anti-government protest in nine weeks in Belgrade called on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to resign - as the first solidarity protest took place also in the divided northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica.

MPs of parties mainly gathered in the opposition Alliance for Serbia boycotted Monday's session of the Serbian parliament, following mass anti-government protests, marring a visit by the President of Slovenia.

Tens of thousands of people marched again in Belgrade on Saturday evening near most major public institutions, protesting against what they call the "political violence" in Serbia, while a day earlier people gathered in several other towns and cities.

For the seventh weekend in a row, protesters in Serbia on Saturday marched near major government institutions in the capital, Belgrade, putting more pressure on the government led by the Serbian Progressive Party and President Aleksandar Vucic to stop what they call the political violence in the country.