Brawl erupts in Serbian parliament

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BELGRADE (Reuters) – Scuffles broke out in the Serbian parliament on Monday after opposition legislators raised banners accusing the ruling coalition of trying to shirk responsibility for the collapse of a train station roof that killed 15 people earlier this month.

Radomir Lazovic of the opposition Green-Left Front party placed a picture of a red hand captioned ‘you have blood on your hands’ on the speaker’s platform, video footage from the N1 television station showed.

The health minister, Zatibor Loncar, approached him and started arguing. Other deputies rushed in front of the speaker’s platform shouting, pulling and hitting one another.

The opposition deputies shouted: “killers, killers”.

Some held a picture of the president, Aleksandar Vucic with red hands up and a sign saying: “No one is to be blamed”.

The disaster at the recently renovated train station in Novi Sad has turned into a protracted political headache for Vucic and his ruling party, who the opposition and many ordinary citizens accuse of nepotism and corruption – charges the politicians deny.

Twelve people, including a former minister were arrested over the incident last week, but that has failed to alleviate the pressure. The opposition says authorities waited too long to act against potential perpetrators.

The parliament was due to debate the 2025 budget on Monday, but the opposition demanded a debate on the disaster. They also filed a no-confidence motion against the government, although the parliament speaker, Ana Brnabic, said it would not be on the agenda on Monday.

The opposition is calling on Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, who was mayor of Novi Sad when construction started, to resign. The ruling coalition denies allegations and accuses the opposition of triggering clashes with police in protests at the station.

The session was resumed minutes after 2 p.m. (1300 GMT) but the opposition deputies blocked it by making noise and whistle blowing.

Political tension is running high in Serbia, which does not follow European Union foreign policy towards Russia despite its aspiration for EU membership.