Tens of thousands of people have converged on the Serbian capital of Belgrade for a major rally in support of President Aleksandar Vucic, who is facing an unprecedented revolt against his autocratic rule amid the crisis triggered by two mass shootings that have stunned the nation.
Addressing the rain-drenched crowd, Mr Vucic blasted the opposition for seeking his resignation for mishandling the crisis and creating divisions within the country. The two shootings in early May left 18 people dead.
Referring to large anti-government protests held in the past weeks, Mr Vucic accused opposition politicians of "trying to abuse the tragedy".
"The politicians will go down in history of dishonour because they abused the biggest tragedy in the history of our nation," he said.
"Those politicians deserve only contempt."
But Mr Vucic still invited the opposition to dialogue about their demands.
"All along they had just one desire, to topple me and topple the government of Serbia," he said.
"Those politicians weren't even interested in children."
Mr Vucic reiterated he will step down as his Serbian Progressive Party's leader on Saturday and announced plans to form a new, nation-wide movement that is to include politicians, prominent intellectuals, artists and others.
"I am not going anywhere," he said. "We will defend Serbia together."
Vucic calls for 'largest rally in history'
Answering Mr Vucic's call for "the largest rally in the history of Serbia", his supporters, many wearing identical T-shirts with his portrait, were bussed to Belgrade from all over the Balkan country as well as neighbouring Kosovo and Bosnia.
The organisers said that "hundreds of thousands" of participants attended the gathering in front of Serbia's National Assembly amid rain and a thunderstorm that drove many to find a shelter.
Those working in state firms and institutions were told to take a day off from work to attend the rally in front of the parliament building.
Some said that they were warned that they could lose their jobs if they don't show up on the buses which started arriving hours before the gathering was to start.
Serbian officials said the rally promotes "unity and hope" for Serbia.
At three large anti-government protests held earlier this month in the capital, demonstrators demanded Mr Vucic's ouster as well as the resignation of two senior security officials.
They also demanded the withdrawal of broadcasting licenses for two pro-Vucic television stations that promote violence and often host convicted war criminals and other crime figures.
Opposition protesters blame Mr Vucic for creating an atmosphere of hopelessness and division in the country that they say indirectly led to the May 3 and May 4 mass shootings that left 18 people dead and 20 wounded, many of them schoolchildren who were gunned down by a 13-year-old schoolmate.
Mr Vucic, a former pro-Russia ultranationalist who now says that he wants to take the country into the European Union, has alleged that "foreign intelligence services" are behind the opposition protests.
Ethnic clashes inside Kosovo
The rally on Friday was somewhat overshadowed by a new crisis in Serbia's former province of Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs clashed with Kosovo police on Friday and Mr Vucic ordered Serbian troops to be put on a "higher state of alert".
Mr Vucic also said that he ordered an "urgent" movement of Serbian troops to the border with Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008.
He also demanded that NATO-led troops stationed in Kosovo protect ethnic Serbs from the police.
Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, who are a majority in that part of the country, had tried to block recently-elected ethnic Albanian officials from entering municipal buildings earlier on Friday.
Last month's snap election was largely boycotted by ethnic Serbs and only ethnic Albanian or other smaller minority representatives were elected in the mayoral posts and assemblies.
Kosovo police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and let the new officials into the offices.
Several cars were set ablaze. Kosovo Serb hospital officials said about 10 protesters were injured. Police said five officers were injured as protesters hurled stun grenades and other objects. A police car was burned.
The United States condemned Kosovo's government for using police to forcibly enter the municipal buildings.
"These actions have sharply and unnecessarily escalated tensions, undermining our efforts to help normalise relations between Kosovo and Serbia and will have consequences for our bilateral relations with Kosovo," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.
Speaking at Friday's rally, Mr Vucic told the crowd: "We will preserve peace — but I am telling you that Serbia won't sit idle the moment Serbs in northern Kosovo are attacked."
Mr Vucic has previously warned that Belgrade would respond to violence against Serbs, and has stepped up combat readiness several times during moments of tension with Kosovo.
However, any attempt by Serbia to send its troops over the border would mean a clash with NATO troops stationed there.
The conflict in Kosovo erupted in 1998 when separatist ethnic Albanians rebelled against Serbia's rule, and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown. About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died.
NATO's military intervention in 1999 eventually forced Serbia to pull out of the territory. Washington and most EU countries have recognised Kosovo as an independent state, but Serbia, Russia and China have not.
ABC/AP
