[WSMDiscuss] Protestors storm Serbian parliament / Serbia Protests Meet Violent Response in Europe’s 1st Major Virus Unrest

[Jai Sen]

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Viruses in movement…. Serbia in movement…, Resistance in movement…

[Elsewhere, violent new fires are irrupting as a consequence of the virus – and apparently for the first time in Europe -, here not so much against the lockdown as the government’s mismanagement :

·      Protestors storm Serbian parliament

·      Serbia Protests Meet Violent Response in Europe’s 1st Major Virus Unrest

The protests were the first major pandemic-related unrest in Europe since the start of the crisis, and were met by a violent police response that some analysts said they had not witnessed in Serbia since the rule of Slobodan Milosevic, who governed Serbia during the 1990s.

Protesters said they were less angry about the re-implementation of the lockdown than the governmental missteps that had created the need for renewed restrictions in the first place. These included decisions to proceed with a general election last week <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/world/europe/serbia-election-vucic.html> and to restart large public sports events.

Protestors storm Serbian parliament

Thousands clash with police for a second night as government changes plans to reimpose lockdown despite spike in corona virus

Reuters

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-serbians-protest-outside-parliament-despite-warnings-of-coronavirus/ <https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-serbians-protest-outside-parliament-despite-warnings-of-coronavirus/>


A demonstrator holds a flare during a rally in front of the parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, on July 8, 2020.  (MARKO DJURICA/Reuters)

Serbian police fired tear gas at protesters after being pelted with flares and stones on Wednesday as thousands protested in front of the Belgrade parliament despite warnings such gatherings could spread coronavirus infections.

The evening before, violence erupted when a crowd stormed parliament in protest at plans to reimpose a lockdown after a new spike in COVID-19 cases. Forty-three police officers and 17 protesters were injured and there were 23 arrests.

Hours before Wednesday’s protest, President Aleksandar Vucic called on people to stop attending anti-government rallies to avoid a further spread of the coronavirus, warning there were no beds left in hospitals.

“There are no free beds in our hospitals. We will open new hospitals,” he said in an address to the country. He accused far-right groups and unspecified regional “intelligence officials” of orchestrating riots to “undermine Serbia’s position.”

Most of the protesters on Wednesday evening wore face masks, blew whistles and shouted “Vucic leave!” as they faced off with riot police guarding the parliament complex. Some threw stones and flares at police who responded with volleys of tear gas.

Protesters also skirmished with police in the northern city of Novi Sad.

 

SEE VIDEO AT LINK TO ARTICLE

 

A group of opposition supporters stormed the Serbian parliament building in Belgrade on Tuesday night in a protest against a lockdown planned for the capital this weekend to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Reuters

Although he had on Tuesday said a new lockdown would be imposed in Belgrade this weekend, Mr. Vucic said on Wednesday he had ultimately advised the government and health authorities not to introduce it. The government will announce a new set of restrictive measures on Thursday, he said.

Serbia, a country of seven million, has reported 17,076 COVID-19 cases and 341 deaths. Health authorities say hospitals are running at full capacity and staff are exhausted. The number of new infections rose to 357 on Wednesday from 299 on Tuesday.

Critics say the government’s decisions to allow soccer matches, religious festivities, parties and private gatherings to resume, and parliamentary elections to go ahead on June 21, are to blame for the new surge in infections.

The government blames a lack of sanitary discipline among the public, especially in nightclubs.


Serbia Protests Meet Violent Response in Europe’s 1st Major Virus Unrest

To counter a second coronavirus wave, President Aleksandar Vucic announced a new lockdown. Protesters reacted with fury at his inconsistency, amid wider anger over his strongman leadership

Patrick Kingsley <https://www.nytimes.com/by/patrick-kingsley>, New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/world/europe/serbia-protests-coronavirus.html <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/world/europe/serbia-protests-coronavirus.html>

Protesters clashing with police officers outside Serbia’s National Assembly in Belgrade on Wednesday. (Credit...Andrej Isakovic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Thousands of Serbs demonstrated for a second consecutive night on Wednesday in response to President Aleksandar Vucic’s management of the coronavirus crisis and wider concerns over the state of democracy in Serbia.

The protests were the first major pandemic-related unrest in Europe since the start of the crisis, and were met by a violent police response that some analysts said they had not witnessed in Serbia since the rule of Slobodan Milosevic, who governed Serbia during the 1990s.

Serbs first took to the streets on Tuesday, soon after Mr. Vucic announced that Belgrade would be placed under a new three-day lockdown following a second wave of confirmed coronavirus infections.

But the demonstrations quickly morphed into a wider expression of frustration at Mr. Vucic’s increasing control over policymaking <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/world/europe/serbia-election-vucic.html> and perceived mismanagement of Serbia’s pandemic response. The protests continued on Wednesday, even after Mr. Vucic suspended his decision to enforce a second shutdown.

Protesters said they were less angry about the re-implementation of the lockdown than the governmental missteps that had created the need for renewed restrictions in the first place. These included decisions to proceed with a general election last week <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/world/europe/serbia-election-vucic.html> and to restart large public sports events.


Waiting outside a Covid-19 clinic in Belgrade, Serbia last week.  Credit...Oliver Bunic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

“We don’t mind staying home for another three days — that wasn’t the problem,” said Dragana Grncarski, 45, a fashion events manager who protested on both days.

“However, they’re playing with our minds and with the truth,” Ms. Grncarski added. “When it suits them to do elections, there is no corona. They organized football matches and tennis matches, and because of that we have a situation where the hospitals are full.”

After initially enforcing one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns in March, Mr. Vucic lifted social restrictions in early May, claiming his government had defeated the coronavirus.

But while other European countries eased their lockdowns gradually, Mr. Vucic opted for a faster process, soon allowing Serbs to gather by the tens of thousands without social distancing at sports matches and to crowd into reopened nightclubs.

“We went from one extreme to another,” said Jelena Vasiljevic <https://fvm.academia.edu/JelenaVasiljevic>, an expert on Balkan protest movements at the University of Belgrade.

Mr. Vucic initially refused to change course on the re-openings, even as the daily number of new cases rose from below 20 to above 300 and investigative news reports suggested <https://balkaninsight.com/2020/06/22/serbia-under-reported-covid-19-deaths-and-infections-data-shows/> that the toll could be even higher.

He pressed ahead with a controversial general election <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/world/europe/serbia-election-vucic.html> on June 21 that most opposition parties had long planned to boycott, saying they did not want to legitimize a process that they feel is gamed in Mr. Vucic’s favor.

And to Mr. Vucic’s critics, his decision first to ease restrictions ahead of a vote that was certain to increase his power — and then reinstate them soon after — felt like he was playing politics with public health.

“Citizens have been constantly deceived and lied to for political ends,” said Tena Prelec <http://www.lse.ac.uk/LSEE-Research-on-South-Eastern-Europe/People/Tena-Prelec>, an expert on politics in southeast Europe at the University of Oxford.

Analysts said the spontaneous nature of the protests reflected the lack of institutional means to express dissent.

Under Mr. Vucic, the quality of Serbian democracy has fallen from “free” to only “partly free,” according to Freedom House, an independent Washington-based watchdog that makes an annual assessment of each country’s political freedoms.

“The media and state institutions are completely consumed by one party,” said Dr. Vasiljevic <https://fvm.academia.edu/JelenaVasiljevic>.

On Tuesday night, some protesters briefly entered the Parliament building before being forced out by police.


Protesters outside Serbia’s Parliament building in Belgrade on Wednesday.  (Credit...Andrej Isakovic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)



Law enforcement officials were later filmed beating unarmed protesters with batons, in scenes that some analysts said mirrored police behavior during the rule of Mr. Milosevic, who led Serbia through the Balkan Wars and was later tried for war crimes in The Hague.

“The excessive use of force — we haven’t seen that since Milosevic in 1996 or 1997,” Dr. Vasiljevic said.

Mr. Vucic said police were right to respond with force.

“There were indications of foreign involvement, and some criminal faces were there, too,” Mr. Vucic said, speaking on Wednesday afternoon, before the second night of protests.

“The aim was to damage Serbia’s international image,” he added.

The protests could soon fizzle because of their leaderless nature, the lack of a clear goal and the strength of Mr. Vucic’s grip on Serbia, Dr. Vasiljevic said.

Similar mass demonstrations dissipated last year <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/01/world/europe/balkans-protests-montenegro-serbia-bosnia-albania.html> without forcing concessions from Mr. Vucic.

“This situation is a bit different,” said Dr. Vasiljevic. “But we still need to have some clear political articulations, and a clear political narrative.”



____________________________

Jai Sen

Independent researcher, editor; Senior Fellow at the School of International Development and Globalisation Studies at the University of Ottawa

jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>
Now based in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325) and in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded and unsurrendered Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282 2900) 

CURRENT / RECENT publications :

Jai Sen, ed, 2018a – The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our Dance. Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
Jai Sen, ed, 2018b – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ? (Indian edition). New Delhi : AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration with OpenWord and PM Press.  Hard copy available at MOM1AmazonIN <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>, MOM1Flipkart <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>, and MOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
Jai Sen, ed, 2017 – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ?.  New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press.  Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
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