BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Ivana Ilic Sunderic had never heard anything quite so alarming and disturbing at a protest as the sound that broke a commemorative silence during a huge anti-government rally in Serbia's capital, Belgrade.
“It was quiet and peaceful and then we heard something we could not see … like a sound rolling toward us, a whiz,” Ilic Sunderic said about the March 15 incident. “People started rushing for safety toward the pavement, feeling that something was moving toward us down the street."
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People observe 15 minutes of silence during a massive anti-government rally in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
People observe 15 minutes of silence during a massive anti-government rally in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
People observe 15 minutes of silence during a massive anti-government rally in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
In this photo provided by the Serbian Interior Ministry, Serbian Gendarmerie officers show the U.S.-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) – which is illegal in Serbia and many other countries, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Serbian Ministry of Interior via AP)
In this photo provided by the Serbian Interior Ministry, Serbian Gendarmerie officers show the U.S.-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) – which is illegal in Serbia and many other countries, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Serbian Ministry of Interior via AP)
In this photo provided by the Serbian Interior Ministry, Serbian Gendarmerie officers show the U.S.-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) – which is illegal in Serbia and many other countries, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Serbian Ministry of Interior via AP)
It was “a subdued sound lasting only 2-3 seconds but very unusual and very frightening, like a sound from hell,” she said.
Ilic Sunderic was not alone in describing the panic. Hundreds of others have offered similar accounts, triggering accusations that the police, military or security services under the tight control of authoritarian Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic used an acoustic crowd control weapon to target peaceful protesters.
The weapons, which are illegal in Serbia, emit sound waves which can trigger sharp ear pain, disorientation, eardrum ruptures or even irreversible hearing damage.
The incident piled more pressure on Vucic, who has been rattled by nearly five months of anti-corruption protests over the collapse in November of a concrete canopy at a railway station in the northern town of Novi Sad that killed 16 people.
Serbia’s officials have issued often contradictory denials that an acoustic weapon was directed at the demonstrators. Calls have been mounting for answers as to what caused the sudden commotion, if not a sonic device.
An Associated Press video shows thousands of protesters holding up their lit mobile phones in silence when they suddenly start running away in panic. A swooshing sound can then be heard.
“I have been going to protests for 30 years but I’ve never heard anything like this," Ilic Sunderic said.
A defiant Vucic has rejected what he called “lies and fabrications” that the security services targeted the demonstrators with a sonic device. He said that such accusations are part of an alleged Western-orchestrated ploy to topple him.
“If there was a single piece of evidence that a sound cannon was used against demonstrators, then I would no longer be president," he said.
Serbia’s police, army and the state security agency, BIA, initially all denied possessing the U.S.-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), which is illegal in Serbia and some other countries. When presented with photos of the device mounted on an off-road vehicle and deployed at the rally of hundreds of thousands of protesters, officials admitted possessing a sonic weapon, but insisted it was not used against the protesters.
The photos showed nothing more than “loudspeakers" that also are available on eBay, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said. The rectangular devices, purchased from a U.S. supplier in 2021, serve to emit warnings to the crowds in case of major trouble, he said.
“Serbian police have never, including March 15, used any illegal or unallowed device that is not envisaged by the law, including the device known as a sound cannon," Dacic said. “Police only use sound devices for warnings.”
Sonic weapons use sound waves to incapacitate, disorient or harm individuals by harnessing acoustic energy, causing both physical and psychological effects, such as dizziness, disorientation or severe headaches.
Although often described as non-lethal, their use in military, law enforcement and covert operations has raised serious ethical concerns.
More recently, sonic devices have been used against Somali pirates as well as migrants in Greece and reportedly in Serbia.
Images from the Belgrade protest show what appears to be an LRAD 450XL.
The California-based manufacturer, Genasys, said on X that “the video and audio evidence we have seen and heard thus far does not support the use of an LRAD during the March 15th incident in Belgrade, Serbia.”
Many who were in the crowd later complained of headaches, confusion, ear pressure or nausea.
Sasa Cvrkovic, a 23-year-old political science student from Belgrade, described the sound as a “jet that flew past like some kind of wind.” He said that it created panic and a brief stampede: “One young man next to me broke his leg.”
Cvrkovic said he felt nauseous all through the day after the demonstration. Ilic Sunderic said she felt pressure in her head and ears.
Reports also have emerged of pressure on doctors at Serbia’s emergency clinics to withhold records of hundreds of people who sought medical help and advice after the rally.
Thomas Withington, an expert in electronic warfare, radar and military communications at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said he reviewed some of the videos from the Belgrade stampede.
“Extraordinary film of people gathering, protesting in the streets peacefully, the demonstration,” he said in an interview. “And suddenly, an almost kind of biblical passing of a huge number of people in a very panicked rush, very sudden and very panicked movement, and the likes of which I must confess I’ve never seen before.”
He said it was clear that something caused several hundred people to suddenly panic and move in a very specific way, rushing for cover to the pavement and abandoning the middle of the street.
“So certainly, the behavior that you see on the film does appear to be consistent with people reacting en masse to something that is making them feel deeply unsettled or deeply uncomfortable,” he said.
Predrag Petrovic, a research manager at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, a think tank, said, “We can claim with huge probability that some unconventional weapon, some version of a sonic cannon, was used.”
“I have a lot of experience in participating and monitoring street protests and I have never seen a stampede happen in a second and along an almost straight line,” Petrovic said.
In an online petition signed by over half a million people, the Serbian opposition Move-Change movement asked the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for an independent investigation.
Several Serbian rights groups announced Tuesday they have taken the issue to the European Court of Human Rights, saying that they collected more than 4,000 testimonies from people who complained of various physical and psychological problems after the incident on March 15. The court in Strasbourg has given Serbia until the end of the month to respond, the groups said in a joint statement.
Vucic’s pro-Russia government, however, invited the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, to investigate. There has been no immediate answer from the American and Russian security agencies.
People observe 15 minutes of silence during a massive anti-government rally in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
People observe 15 minutes of silence during a massive anti-government rally in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
People observe 15 minutes of silence during a massive anti-government rally in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
In this photo provided by the Serbian Interior Ministry, Serbian Gendarmerie officers show the U.S.-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) – which is illegal in Serbia and many other countries, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Serbian Ministry of Interior via AP)
In this photo provided by the Serbian Interior Ministry, Serbian Gendarmerie officers show the U.S.-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) – which is illegal in Serbia and many other countries, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Serbian Ministry of Interior via AP)
In this photo provided by the Serbian Interior Ministry, Serbian Gendarmerie officers show the U.S.-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) – which is illegal in Serbia and many other countries, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Serbian Ministry of Interior via AP)
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Friday that Denmark has "underinvested" in Greenland’s security and demanded that Denmark change its approach as President Donald Trump pushes to take over the Danish territory.
The pointed remarks came as Vance visited U.S. troops on Pituffik Space Base on the mineral-rich, strategically critical island alongside his wife and other senior U.S. officials for a trip that was ultimately scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were not consulted about the original itinerary.
“Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance said. “You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change.”
Vance said the U.S. has “no option” but to take a significant position to ensure the security of Greenland as he encouraged a push in Greenland for independence from Denmark.
“I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,” Vance said. “We could make them much more secure. We could do a lot more protection. And I think they’d fare a lot better economically as well.”
The reaction by members of Greenland's parliament and residents has rendered that unlikely, with anger erupting over the Trump administration’s attempts to annex the vast Arctic island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pushed back on Vance's claim that Denmark isn't doing enough for defense in the Arctic, calling her country “a good and strong ally.”
Soon after arriving, Vance briefly addressed U.S. troops stationed at the base as he and his wife sat down to lunch with them, saying that the Trump administration is very interested in “Arctic security.” He and his entourage, including national security adviser Mike Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, later received briefings from military officials.
It was minus-3 degrees F (minus-19 degrees C) when the delegation landed at the remote base 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle. “It’s cold as s—- here. Nobody told me,” Vance said, prompting laughs.
The revised trip to the semi-autonomous Danish territory comes as relations between the U.S. and the Nordic country, a traditional U.S. ally and NATO member, have soured. Trump had repeatedly suggested that the United States should in some form control the island.
During his remarks at the end of the brief visit, Vance underscored that he did not think military force was ever going to be necessary as he pressed the idea of a dramatically enhanced American position on the island.
“Because we think the people of Greenland are rational and good, we think we’re going to have to cut a deal, Donald Trump style, to ensure the security of this territory but also the United States of America,” Vance said while adding that the people of Greenland had the right to determine their own future.
In Washington, Trump on Friday said the U.S. “needs Greenland for international security.”
Trump, speaking to reporters soon after Vance’s arrival, alluded to the rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up because of climate change.
“Greenland’s very important for the peace of the world,” Trump said. “And I think Denmark understands, and I think the European Union understands it. And if they don’t, we’re going to have to explain it to them.”
After Vance's speech, Frederiksen said Denmark was increasing its defense capabilities in the region, including new Arctic ships and long-range drones.
With Greenland part of NATO, she also emphasized the collective responsibility of the alliance to defend the Arctic in response to the Russian threat. After Denmark stood “side by side with Americans” in its war against terror, she said it was “not a fair way” for Vance to refer to Denmark.
Denmark's ambassador to the U.S., Jesper Møller Sørensen, thanked Vance “for taking a closer look at Arctic security” and said both countries agree more could be done.
“Greenland & Denmark share a desire to strengthen our already incredibly close ties with our friend & ally," he wrote on social media.
Ahead of Vance's arrival, four of the five parties elected to Greenland's parliament earlier this month signed an agreement to form a new, broad-based coalition government. The parties banded together in the face of Trump's designs on the territory.
“It is a time when we as a population are under pressure,” the prime minister-designate, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said before the accord was signed to applause and cheers in the capital, Nuuk.
He added that “we must stick together. Together we are strongest,” Greenland broadcaster KNR reported.
In a post on Instagram, Frederiksen congratulated Nielsen and his incoming government, and said, “I look forward to close cooperation in an unnecessarily conflict-filled time.”
Frederiksen said Tuesday that the U.S. visit, which was originally set for three days, created “unacceptable pressure." She has said Denmark wants to work with the U.S. on defense and security, but Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.
Initially, Vance's wife, Usha Vance, had announced a solo trip to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut. The vice president subsequently said he would join her on that trip, only to change that itinerary again — after protests from Greenland and Denmark — to a one-day visit to the military post only.
Inhabitants of Nuuk, which is about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) south of Pituffik, voiced concern about Vance's visit and the U.S. interest in their island.
Cora Høy, 22, said Vance was “welcome if he wants to see it but of course Greenland is not for sale.” She added that “it’s not normal around here” with all the attention Greenland is getting. "I feel now every day is about (Trump) and I just want to get away from it.”
“It’s all a bit crazy. Of course the population here is a bit shook up,” said 30-year-old Inuk Kristensen. "My opinion is the same as everyone’s: Of course you don’t do things this way. You don’t just come here and say that you want to buy the place.”
As the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America, Greenland has broader strategic value as both China and Russia seek access to its waterways and natural resources.
“We need to ensure that America is leading in the Arctic, because we know that if America doesn’t, other nations will fill the gap where we fall behind,” Vance said.
Grieshaber reported from Berlin and Madhani from Washington. Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.
Two Greenland flags and a sign that reads "Our land, Our future" are seen in front of the Inussuk statue, a sculpture marking the start of Self Governance, during a visit by US Vice President JD Vance in Nuuk Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/ Philip Crowther)
Vice President JD Vance, second right, and second lady Usha Vance, right, tour Pituffik Space Base, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Greenland. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, left, and White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, right, speaks at Pituffik Space Base, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Greenland. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, left, and White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, right, speaks at Pituffik Space Base, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Greenland. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, left, and White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, right, speaks at Pituffik Space Base, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Greenland. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, right, and second lady Usha Vance arrive at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, from right, and second lady Usha Vance speak with soldiers at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Second lady Usha Vance arrives at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, right, and second lady Usha Vance arrive at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, from right, and second lady Usha Vance speak with soldiers at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance arrives at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, right, and second lady Usha Vance arrive at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, fourth from right, and second lady Usha Vance, second left, arrive at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, from right, and second lady Usha Vance, speak with soldiers at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance arrives at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
A boat rides though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Pieces of ice float on the sea in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A fisherman rides on a boat though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
FILE - Usha Vance attends a campaign rally, Nov. 1, 2024, in Selma, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce, File)
Vice President JD Vance speaks at Marine Corps Air Station Quantico during a tour Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Quantico, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
