MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Monday that it could not rule out the possibility that anti-government protests in Serbia, a close Russian ally, could be an attempted “colour revolution”, but that it was sure the Serbian leadership could restore calm.
Serbian police on Saturday clashed with anti-government protesters demanding snap elections and an end to the 12-year rule of President Aleksandar Vucic.
“Despite the fact that Serbia is, of course, under unprecedented pressure – we cannot rule out that well-known methods are being used there to provoke colour revolutions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“We have no doubt that the current Serbian leadership will be able to restore law and order in the republic in the very near future,” he added.
Russia has traditionally regarded Vucic as a close ally and the Serbian leader was in Moscow on May 9 to watch the Red Square military parade held to commemorate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Months of protests across Serbia, including university shutdowns, have rattled Vucic, a populist, whose second term ends in 2027, when there are also parliamentary elections scheduled.
Vucic said unspecified “foreign powers” were behind the protest on Saturday and that protesters had been attempting to “topple Serbia” but had failed.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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