Serbian officials deny illegal sonic weapon attack on peaceful protesters

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian officials denied Sunday that security forces used a military-grade sonic weapon to disperse and scare protesters at a huge anti-government rally in the capital.

Opposition officials and Serbian rights groups claimed the widely banned acoustic weapon that emits a targeted beam to temporarily incapacitate people was used during the protest Saturday. They say they will file charges with the European Court of Human Rights and domestic courts against those who ordered the attack.

Serbia has not denied that it has the acoustic device in its arsenal.

At least 100,000 people descended on Belgrade on Saturday for a mass rally seen as a culmination of monthslong protests against Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.

The rally was part of a nationwide anti-corruption movement that erupted after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Serbia’s north in November, killing 15 people.

Almost daily demonstrations that started in response to the tragedy have shaken Vucic’s decade-long firm grip on power in Serbia where many blame the crash on rampant government corruption, negligence and disrespect of construction safety regulations, demanding accountability for the victims.

Footage from the rally show people standing during 15 minutes of silence for the rail station disaster while suddenly experiencing a whooshing sound that immediately triggered panic and a brief stampede.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene said people started scrambling for cover, leaving the middle of the downtown street almost empty as they started falling over each other.

Those exposed to the weapon experience sharp ear pain, disorientation and panic, military experts say. Prolonged exposure can cause eardrum ruptures and irreversible hearing damage.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, a non-governmental organization, condemned “the unlawful and inhumane deployment of prohibited weapons, such as acoustic devices, against peaceful protesters.”

“This act represents a blatant display of force and an attempt to incite chaos, aiming to delegitimize protests and criminalize peaceful citizens,” the group said.

Serbian police and the defense ministry denied that the illegal weapon was used.

The Serbian president on Sunday urged judicial authorities to respond to the information "that sonic cannons were used during the protests," the state RTS broadcaster reported.

“I am asking … the ministry of justice and the prosecutor’s office to react, either to prosecute those who used it, and we know they didn’t but let’s check," Vucic said. “Let there be a proceeding but then they should also prosecute those who went public with such a notorious lie.”

Belgrade’s emergency hospital has denied reports that many people sought help after the incident and urged legal action against those who “spread untrue information.”

People use the lights on their cell phones as they observe fifteen minutes of silence during a major anti-corruption rally led by university students in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Riot police stand guard on the side of a street during a major anti-corruption rally led by university students in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Police in riot gear walk down a street during a major anti-corruption rally led by university students in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

People welcome protesters from provinces who have arrived ahead of a major rally this weekend in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People welcome a group of cyclists who have arrived ahead of a major rally this weekend in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People hold the lights on their cell phones as they attend a protest ahead of a major anti-corruption rally this weekend, in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Protesters light flares as they gather ahead of a major rally this weekend in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Protesters march during a major rally against populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government, in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People use the lights on their cell phones as they observe fifteen minutes of silence during a major anti-corruption rally led by university students in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

BERLIN (AP) — Friedrich Merz says he intends to stay on as the leader of Germany and his party after a string of state election defeats. But it's unclear how much room for maneuver the chancellor still has, only 16 months after he took office.

The 70-year-old sought within minutes of polls closing Sunday in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin to shore up his position in his center-right Christian Democratic Union. He made a highly unusual election evening appearance to insist that he would press ahead with reforms meant to get the sluggish economy moving.

“What has to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness and patience,” Merz said. “I will demonstrate that as the CDU party leader and above all as chancellor of our country.”

The big question is whether the CDU will support him in that, and for how long.

The party's eight state governors publicly backed him before Sunday's two elections. But Merz's statement on Sunday itself underlined the erosion of his authority in recent weeks, and it remains to be seen whether support from powerful regional leaders and lawmakers will hold.

Merz has one advantage: there's no single obvious successor waiting in the wings. Potential options who have been named include the governors of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst; Bavaria, Markus Söder; and Hesse, Boris Rhein.

For now, though, no one has signaled any interest in taking over, and Wüst has an election to fight next spring in his own state, Germany's most populous.

Survival is one thing, but this month's state elections haven't made it easier for Merz to govern effectively.

Merz already agreed the outline of proposed reforms with his junior governing partners, the center-left Social Democrats. But politicians on both sides of the governing coalition have questioned details of them during these election campaigns, particularly aspects of an overhaul of the pension system, and it's unclear whether he can get them through parliament the way he planned.

The governing coalition has only a 12-seat majority in the 630-seat Bundestag, the national parliament's lower house. It will need to show discipline that it hasn't always mustered to pass the reform plans, which won't be easy if lawmakers grow more nervous. But that thin majority also complicates any plan to replace Merz: any successor would need to get elected in the Bundestag.

Merz could, at least in theory, choose to turn over the task of managing his party to someone else and concentrate on running the country.

There is a precedent: Angela Merkel gave up the CDU leadership after a poor state election result in 2018 but remained chancellor until 2021. Her Social Democratic predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, did the same in 2004 after his popularity sank during a drive to reform Germany's welfare system.

But there's no obvious candidate in this case either, and Merz has made clear that he doesn't want to hand over the party leadership.

Sunday's results have deepened his problems, focusing attention even more closely on his ability to deliver reforms while also keeping the governing coalition and his own party together. And Merz himself said as he insisted on the need for change that “not everything will win quick applause.” He also has to keep an eye on the threat from the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

Even if he remains in charge, there's only a seven-month respite until the next round of state elections — though none of those are in Alternative for Germany’s eastern heartland. And another setback could quickly revive questions over his leadership.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz watches the media during a press conference at the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) headquarters in Berlin, Germany, after yesterday's two state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz watches the media during a press conference at the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) headquarters in Berlin, Germany, after yesterday's two state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

AfD party leader Alice Weidel talks to the media during a press conference of the "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) in Berlin, Germany, after yesterday's two state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) speaks at the Konrad Adenauer House following the elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in Berlin, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

In the ARD election studio, a monitor shows Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) speaking following the elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in Berlin, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Marcus Brandt/dpa via AP)