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Topics: Politics, World News
Poppy Bilderbeck
Footage has captured the moment smoke bombs and flares were set off by members of parliament in Serbia's government in Belgrade.
Yesterday (March 4), a meeting between Serbian lawmakers ended up looking more like the scene from Harry Potter when Fred and George Weasley interrupted an OWL exam by setting off Wildfire Whiz-bangs.
Catch the moment here:
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Opposition to the ruling majority Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) held up protest signs and set off smoke grenades and tear gas during the opening day of the spring session of parliament in Belgrade.
Prior to the action, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević's resignation was being discussed alongside the law surrounding higher education before Green-Left Front Radomir Lazović reportedly then said: "We believe that an exiting government cannot propose laws."
Many lawmakers stood up holding placards reading 'General strike' and 'You have blood on your hands' alongside others rising from their seats and setting off the appliances.
Another banner read: "Serbia is rising up for the regime to fall."
Parliamentary speaker Ana Brnabić later responded to the protestors, slamming them as 'thugs and terrorist bandits who want to block the work of the institutions'.
She told protestors: "Your colour revolution has failed, and this country will live; this country will work and this country will continue to win."
Brnabić added: "The parliament will continue to work and to defend Serbia."
CBS News reports 'at least three lawmakers were injured' as a result of the smoke bombs and flares being set off in parliament yesterday with one person reportedly experiencing a stroke.
Outside of parliament, Politico reports citizens pelted the building with eggs.
The opposition party are reported as having staged the protest in support of anti-corruption demonstrations - a series of mass protests sparked when part of the canopy roof of Novi Sad railway station collapsed in November 2024, killing 15 people.
Former transport minister Goran Vesić handed in his resignation days after the disaster and he was one of over a dozen charged in connection with the incident.
With the disaster blamed on corruption, protests erupted over 276 cities and towns in the country, with Serbia's prime minister Vučević handing in his resignation in January earlier this year 'in order to defuse tensions'.
However, protests have continued to this day, with even the European Commission's report from the end of 2024 resolving corruption remains 'prevalent in many areas' and 'an issue of concern' in the country.
"There is need for strong political will to effectively address corruption issues, as well as a robust criminal justice response to high-level corruption," the report states.