Several thousand people faced off on both sides of the police cordons with officers in full gear standing in several rows between the shouting crowds who threw bottles and flares at each other.

Anti-government protesters in Belgrade gathered in support of Dijana Hrka, the mother of Stefan Hrka, one of the Novi Sad station tragedy victims.

Hrka earlier on Sunday said she was launching a hunger strike near a tent camp outside the parliament building which has been occupied by Vucic’s loyalists since March.

Protesters on Sunday evening also gathered in Novi Sad and some smaller towns in support of Hrka.

The commemoration rally on Saturday in Novi Sad also reflected major discontent with Vucic’s 13-year-long increasingly authoritarian rule.