Thousands rally in Ljubljana against Mayor’s support for Serbian President

Several hundred people joined a protest rally in Ljubljana to urge Mayor Zoran Janković to withdraw his support for embattled Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

The protesters gathered in front of the Serbian Embassy near the central train station, later blocking two major intersections as they made their way to City Hall, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

In front of the embassy, students of the Ljubljana Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television expressed support for ongoing student protests in Serbia triggered by a train station canopy collapse in Novi Sad that killed 15 people in November.

Janković has come under fire after Vučić showed a letter the mayor had sent him, expressing his support. Janković has since said he is expressing support to his personal friend and has rejected repeated calls to apologise.

Earlier this week, the city council's commission for international relations said it had not been informed of the letter, distancing itself from it and expressing support for student protests in Serbia and Slovenia.

At a session at which only four of the seven members were present, all of them from the opposition in the city council, the commission also demanded to see a copy of the letter and details about all Janković's business trips since he was last re-elected in 2022.

The protest organisers, a group calling themselves We Are Ljubljana, said that they would step up the pressure, staging new protests and road blocks unless Janković apologises and withdraws his support for Vučić.

Having already staged one such protest on 8 February, they are planning the next rally for 15 March.

"You will not be expressing support on our behalf, on stationery with our coat of arms. If he's your friend send him an SMS," one of the protesters said.

"Don't you think that such a letter is a grave overstepping of your powers and amounts to interference in interior affairs of a foreign country?" a protester asked in front of City Hall. "If you don't know how to apologise or are not allowed to, then at least step down," the protester added.

Protesters also want Janković to express public support for the protests in Serbia.

They moreover want city councillors to express their view of the letter. Two councillors, from the ranks of the Pirates and Vesna, who are unhappy with the letter, attended the rally.