Serbian parliament erupts into chaos as opposition hurl smoke bombs and flares – POLITICO Europe
Months of tense confrontations peaked when opposition MPs attempted to block ruling party from enacting new laws. BELGRADE — Opposition MPs set off flares and gas bombs in the Serbian parliament in Belgrade on Tuesday to try to block the passage of last-minute laws proposed by the outgoing government.“We believe that an exiting government cannot propose laws,” Radomir Lazović from the Green-Left Front said in an address before lawmakers released the gas bombs, leading to thick plumes of red smoke and smoke grenade clouds filling the national assembly. Fights broke out between MPs and two were injured after the speaker of parliament, Ana Brnabić, refused to interrupt the session and called the opposition “thugs and terrorist bandits who want to block the work of the institutions.”Meanwhile, citizens gathered in front of the parliament and pelted the entrance with raw eggs.In January, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević offered his resignation amid public outrage and nationwide protests following the collapse of a recently renovated train and bus station canopy in Novi Sad in November, which killed 15 people.His resignation, yet to be confirmed by parliament, could lead the country to new elections only over a year after the last ones were held, if the ruling Serbian Progressive Party fails to provide a new candidate for prime minister, who must be approved by a parliament vote.The protests demanding accountability for the tragedy in Novi Sad have since spread to every corner of Serbia and are largely led by students who have abandoned their classes and occupied the country’s universities. Widely seen as the largest protests in Serbia’s history, hundreds of thousands of protesters gather almost daily and often block the country’s main roads and thoroughfares.Milorad Dodik’s decades-long disruptive reign in Bosnia may be over as a top court bans him from politics and sentences him to prison.Slovenia has drawn global attention and its fair share of misinterpretation. Now its residents are saying enough is enough.New U.S. sanctions against Russia target Serbia’s main gas company, at the same time that Azerbaijan claims to not be able to deliver its supply. The much-touted solution to Europe’s migration crisis houses only Italian police — who have taken to adopting stray dogs and sunbathing.
