Belgrade

There are two kinds of Balkan crises: the ones that actually happen, and the ones that feel inevitable until they fizzle out. Serbia’s current descent into street violence and political dysfunction is somewhere in between. Whether it ends in fresh elections, implosion, or continued chaos depends on one man.

Sit-ins and marches have given way to nightly clashes between anti-government protesters on one side and pro-regime thugs and riot police on the other.

In the past week, long-running student protests against the government of President Aleksandar Vucic have turned into something far less orderly. Sit-ins and marches have given way to nightly clashes between anti-government protesters on one side and pro-regime thugs and riot police on the other.

The offices of the ruling Serbian Progressive party (SNS) have turned into urban warzones, guarded by burly men wielding sticks and pyrotechnics. Belgrade hasn’t felt this volatile since 2000, when former ruler Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown. At least now there are fewer tanks and more iPhones.

The protests were initially sparked last year by the collapse........

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