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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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Opposition politicians launched smoke grenades and released tear gas during a session of Serbia's Parliament on Tuesday, injuring at least three lawmakers against the backdrop of months of anti-corruption protests rattling through the Balkan country.
Footage from the chamber in Belgrade shows dark smoke curling from objects thrown toward the center of the room, and lighter smoke coming from flares. A banner bearing the phrase, "Serbia is rising for the regime to fall," can be seen held up in the chamber.
Why It Matters
Protests threatening the Serbian government erupted after a recently renovated concrete roof collapsed in a railway station in the country's second-largest city of Novi Sad in early November.
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The death of 15 people in the disaster prompted fierce public criticism and corruption allegations, which snowballed into protests against the government's rule. Serbia is a candidate for accession to the European Union and has been in talks with the bloc for years, but the EU assessed in October that "corruption is prevalent in many areas and remains an issue of concern."
Prime Minister Miloš Vučević said as he resigned in late January that he stepped down "in order to defuse tensions," along with the mayor of Novi Sad.
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What To Know
Images from outside the building show at least one person being carried from the Parliament by medics. Images captured in the chamber show politicians holding signs calling for strikes.
Ana Brnabic, speaker of the Parliament and an ally of Vučević, reportedly said one lawmaker had suffered a stroke but added that Parliament "will continue to work and to defend Serbia."
Serbia's Beta news agency reported that the parliamentary session was interrupted at 11:20 a.m. local time (5:20 a.m. ET), when opposition politicians left their seats and started detonating devices. In a later report, the news agency said the session was disrupted a second time at roughly 2 p.m. local time, or 8 a.m. ET.
Protesters also gathered outside the building.
Lawmakers had convened to vote on a law to pull up funding for university-level education, but opposition voices deemed the parliamentary session illegal and demanded the confirmation of Vučević's resignation, according to the Associated Press.
Thousands of people had attended a memorial and protest marking the Novi Sad disaster on Saturday in Niš, Serbia's third-largest city.
"This is the way to make a revolution," a 22-year-old demonstrator, named as Tarek, told Reuters on Saturday. "It is the right way to achieve the change, to create a better future, a functional state without corruption."
What People Are Saying
Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, earlier this year, said he resigned to "fulfil the political demands of even the most extreme protesters."
What Happens Next
Serbia's Parliament is yet to confirm Vučević's resignation, and there is little indication the protests will stop. Further demonstrations are expected later this month.
Update 3/4/25, 10 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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