Opposition and ruling party MPs scuffle in Serbian parliament

Deputies from the opposition and the ruling coalition led by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) scuffled in the Assembly (parliament). This on November 25 follows a broadcast on the website of the assembly.

The Serbian parliament was to consider the draft budget for 2025 on Monday, but opposition MPs rose from their seats at the beginning of the session and called for the government's resignation. They, holding placards reading "Corruption kills," blamed the government for the deaths caused by the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad train station.

Deputies of the ruling coalition, in turn, put up placards reading "Corruption is your middle name."

The scuffle resulted in MPs shoving, dousing each other with water, grabbing each other's hands and clinging to the lapels of their jackets. On the balcony, women MPs clung to each other's hair as the JVP MPs tried to hang a banner reading "Yellow (an insulting nickname for the opposition. - Ed.) thieves want war and Serbia wants work."

At the same time, Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic tried to urge the MPs to stop the riots and emphasized that the session started with a minute of silence for the victims of the tragedy. She called the scuffle an insult to the victims.

The train station canopy collapsed in the city of Novi Sad on November 1. Then it was specified that 14 people died as a result of the accident. Serbian authorities declared November 2 a day of mourning for the victims. The Russian Embassy in Serbia specified that it had not received any information about the injured Russians.

Later, November 4, Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic said at a press conference that he resigned after the incident. According to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, this dismissal "was only the beginning," and the country will soon see a series of resignations.

The next day, on November 5, riots broke out near the Novi Sad train station. Initially the procession was relatively calm, but soon the rally began to turn violent - people threw paint and painted with bloody handprints on the building of the city assembly, and then broke its windows. The police used tear gas against the demonstrators. For his part, Vucic said that those responsible for the riots in Novi Sad would be punished.

On November 8, protesters blocked the Varadin bridge over the Danube River, which is one of the main bridges in Novi Sad, demanding the dismissal of the Serbian leadership after the tragedy.