Up to 27,000 people rallied in Belgrade late on Saturday. Protesters marched through the blocked central streets, barricaded the bridge on the Budapest-Thessaloniki international highway and disrupted operations of the central railway station and the New Belgrade station in the city's business district.
"The Interior Ministry acted within the laws of the Republic of Serbia and its duties to ensure unrestricted railway communications," Dacic was quoted as saying by the interior ministry.
The minister vowed to hold those who had committed criminal acts during the overnight protests accountable.
Serbs have been protesting plans to mine and process a lithium-containing mineral in the west of the country. President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday that Russia had warned him about a coup plot against him. Vucic said "those who dream of doing something" would be stopped.
On July 19, Serbia signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Union on strategic partnership on raw materials, electric batteries and e-vehicles. Vucic said he expected at least 6 billion euros ($6.56 billion) of foreign direct investment from the lithium mining project, specifically from Germany. According to his calculations, if a full production cycle is created, the Serbian economy will grow by 16.4%.
In June, Vucic said mining giant Rio Tinto Sinfer could start lithium production in the country in 2028. The speaker of the Serbian parliament, Ana Brnabic, who was then the country's prime minister, announced in 2022 that the Serbian government had officially abandoned the project with the British-Australian conglomerate after mass protests.
Deposits of the jadarite (sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide) were discovered in the Jadar River area near the city of Loznica in western Serbia in 2004. In 2006, the new mineral was named after the river. Experts say the deposit may contain up to 10% of the world's explored lithium reserves. Rio Tinto, whose geologists discovered the deposit, said it planned to invest $2.4 billion in its mining and lithium production. Vucic suggested a referendum on the project.