Climbers remove SNS banner from Albania Palace
A Serbia Wins banner put up by the SNS Stari Grad branch was taken down from Belgrade's Albania Palace on the evening of May 30, after a public blockade of Kolarceva Street.
- A Serbia Wins banner, put up by the Stari Grad branch of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), was removed from Belgrade's Albania Palace on the evening of May 30, 2026.
- The removal was carried out by climbers, with the operation starting around 7pm and finishing around 8.30pm.
- The banner endangered the nests of the strictly protected common swift, as parent birds were prevented from feeding their young.
- Citizens blockaded Kolarceva Street from 2pm and whistled, while the protest was launched by students of the Veterinary and Biology faculties and the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia.
A banner reading Serbia Wins, placed on the Albania Palace by the Stari Grad branch of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), was removed on the evening of May 30, 2026, after a public blockade lasting several hours in the very heart of Belgrade. The operation was carried out by climbers, beginning around 7pm and finishing around 8.30pm, bringing to a close a day marked by pressure from crowds gathered in front of one of the city’s most recognisable buildings.
The trigger for the disputed removal was not the political message itself, but the fact that the banner had covered the nests of the strictly protected common swift. According to experts, the parent birds were prevented from feeding their young, turning the sheet into an obstacle that directly endangered a protected species.
What happened outside the Albania Palace
Citizens blockaded Kolarceva Street from 2pm, whistling and singing the songs The Government Is Falling and Take It Down. The gathering did not erupt spontaneously. The protest was launched by students of the Veterinary and Biology faculties and the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia, who spent the day demanding that the sheet be taken off because the nests were at risk.
The arrival of the climbers was announced by President Aleksandar Vucic, who said the team would arrive at 7pm. He claimed that SNS members had not known the birds were nesting on the building, shifting the focus of the story from the political message to a question of oversight and carelessness.
Who put up the banner and what comes next?
The question of responsibility remained at the centre of the day even before the sheet came down. Minister Sinisa Mali said: I do not know who put up the billboard, but it will be removed today. With that, the leadership confirmed the banner would fall, but without a clear answer on who stood behind placing it on a building that hosts protected birds.
Taking down the sheet ended an incident that, within a few hours, joined two themes that rarely go together: a party message in the city centre and nature protection. The crowd dispersed once the climbers had finished, and the Albania Palace was left without the message that had brought the street to life that afternoon.
Is the removal of the banner the end of the story, or only the start of a debate over who is accountable for placing party messages on protected buildings?
