A man was shot and wounded and a fire briefly broke out near the Serbian Parliament on Wednesday, stoking national tensions ahead of widespread demonstrations expected next week against President Aleksandar Vucic’s government.
The gunman was swiftly apprehended and, according to statements by the authorities, did not link his brief attack to ongoing protests in Serbia. The demonstrations were sparked by a deadly train station accident nearly a year ago and have grown to encompass Serbs’ complaints about corruption and demands for Mr. Vucic’s ouster.
But in a televised speech to the nation, Mr. Vucic quickly denounced Wednesday’s assault as a “terrorist act” motivated by politics.
Black smoke could be seen billowing from a tent outside the parliament building in the capital, Belgrade. Mr. Vucic said a man set the fire, shot the victim and fired a gas cylinder that exploded. The victim had serious injuries, Zlatibor Loncar, the health minister, told reporters.
Mr. Vucic’s supporters set up the tents, which his opponents have criticized as illegal and said pose a security risk.
During a news conference, Mr. Vucic played footage of the shooting and of the police questioning a suspect on the ground in handcuffs. Mr. Vucic framed the violence as bound to happen, blaming rhetoric from students leading the rallies against him.
Although Parliament was in session during the attack, the building was not evacuated, leading an opposition lawmaker, Marinika Tepic, to question whether the episode constituted a terrorism threat. She also demanded that the encampment of Mr. Vucic’s supporters be removed.
The assault marked the latest flare-up of unrest in Serbia since the deaths last November at a train station in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad. A concrete canopy at the newly renovated station collapsed, killing 15 people.
Since then, demonstrations against Mr. Vucic’s government have been some of the biggest outpourings of public discontent in Serbia in decades. They have spread across the country, even reaching into towns that voted heavily for Mr. Vucic in the last election, in 2023.
Protests across Serbia, including in Novi Sad, are planned for Nov. 1 to mark one year since the canopy collapse and to commemorate the deaths. Students and Mr. Vucic’s opponents have blamed shoddy work by contractors tied to corrupt government officials for the deaths. The government has sought to downplay the controversy, fueling public anger.
The European Parliament approved a measure on Wednesday condemning “polarization and state repression in Serbia” and demanding a transparent investigation of the train station deaths.
“The Serbian leadership is politically responsible for escalating repression, normalizing violence and weakening the country’s democracy,” members of the European Parliament said in a statement.
Serbia’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday evening.
Monika Cvorak contributed reporting.
Lara Jakes, a Times reporter based in Rome, reports on conflict and diplomacy, with a focus on weapons and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. She has been a journalist for more than 30 years.
Amelia Nierenberg is a Times reporter covering international news from London.
The post Man Is Shot and Tent Set on Fire Outside Serbia’s Parliament appeared first on New York Times.
