CLASHES erupted between groups of protesters and riot police after a huge anti-government rally on Saturday in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.

The anti-government rally of tens of thousands at a central square in Belgrade passed peacefully, but later in the evening groups of assailants clashed with riot police, throwing flares, rocks and bottles at police cordons.

Police responded with pepper spray as they charged forward to disperse them.

The groups rolled rubbish bins into the streets as shield-carrying riot police tried to surround them.

Police parked anti-riot vehicles in a central Belgrade area to block the demonstrators from returning and the violence soon ended. They said that 23 people were detained.

Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said in a social media video on Saturday that protesters “have shown their violent nature and that they cannot stand political opponents.”

President Vucic, who was on his way to China for a state visit, added that “the state is functioning and will continue to work in line with the law.”

The students were demanding an early election, accusing the government of crime and corruption.

But parliament speaker Ana Brnabic downplayed the student rally, saying “it offered nothing new.”