Protesters In Belgrade Set Up Tents On International Highway - Reports

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2023) Participants in the mass opposition protest in the Serbian capital have set up tents and blocked traffic on the international highway from Budapest to Thessaloniki, Serbian media report.

On Friday, the Serbian opposition started another mass protest in Belgrade under the slogan "Against Violence in Serbia" in front of the country's parliament.

The Serbian Nova.rs news outlet reported late on Friday night that Serbian lawmaker Nebojsa Zelenovic had urged protesters to continue their demonstration until Saturday morning. The protesters set up tents and reportedly blocked the important international highway from Budapest to Thessaloniki.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday that special services of a friendly country "from the East" warned him of possible attempts to stage a color revolution in the country. Vucic also said that Serbia was going to maintain independent foreign policy and decide on its own whether to impose any sanctions or not.

The Serbian opposition has held several protests since the start of May. About 50,000 people took part in some of the demonstrations, according to the opposition sources. Vucic accused his political opponents of using people's emotions over the two recent mass shootings to achieve their own political goals.

In the night of May 5 to May 6, 21-year old Uros Blazic killed eight people and injured 14 with an automatic gun in the municipality of Mladenovac near Belgrade. He reportedly shot a police officer and his sister, and continued to shoot at random people before he was apprehended by the police.

Two days before that, a seventh-grader shot eight children and a guard and wounded six children and a teacher with a gun in a Belgrade school. One wounded girl died in hospital on May 15. The shooter was arrested, but, since he is not 14 years old yet, he is not liable to criminal proceedings. The boy was placed in a psychiatric ward.