Serbia’s parliamentary opposition forces tossed smoke grenades and tear gas inside the chamber on Tuesday, creating scenes the likes of which are rarely seen in European politics.
One member of the governing right-wing sovereigntist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) was hospitalised following a stroke amid the chaos, which came after the Green-Left Front (ZLF) claimed “an exiting government cannot propose laws.” Two other SNS members were injured during the fracas, including a pregnant woman.
One ZLF official later said that they had acted—and, by extension, had seriously injured their opponents—“with pride.” As well as throwing grenades and eggs, opposition members held up a sign for the world to see, reading:
Serbia rises up to bring down the regime.
This disorder followed months of unrest, which has seen students protesting against the government after the collapse of a recently renovated railway station canopy in Novi Sad in November, killing 15 people.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán described the scenes as the latest example of “globalist-liberal forces” attempting to destabilise a sovereign nation, and warned that these are pursuing Slovakia and Hungary, too.
Serbian leader Aleksandar Vučić has also attributed the continuing unrest to foreign actors responding to the government’s refusal to sanction Russia.
Fans of Brussels have predictably dismissed these claims as “completely deranged.”
