 "Shooting outside Serbian Parliament")
A person was seriously injured on Wednesday after a fire and reported shooting broke out at a makeshift camp of loyalists to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
The incident occurred at the camp, known colloquially as “Caciland,” a collection of tents set up outside the Serbian parliament building since March. The encampment has served as a visible counter-protest against months of anti-government demonstrations that represent the most significant challenge to Vucic’s rule.
Footage from the scene showed a tent erupting in flames following a series of sounds resembling gunfire, causing police near the settlement to draw their weapons and urge people to take cover. Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar confirmed one person suffered “serious injuries” from a gunshot wound inflicted by a “man who thinks differently.”
Speaking at a hastily called press conference, President Vucic described the event as an “awful terrorist attack,” asserting it was his “political judgement” that the shooter acted with an “undoubtful political motive” aimed at causing public danger. The President presented video of the alleged shooter, who reportedly confessed upon arrest to being “annoyed by the tents” and wanting police to kill him.
Pro-government tabloids quickly amplified the narrative, accusing a government opponent of orchestrating the violence. Vucic seized on the incident, stating that it was “a question of time before this would happen” and accusing opponents of “countless calls for this (shooting),” despite the anti-government protests being largely peaceful to date.
The violence comes just ahead of a major anniversary rally scheduled for 1 November in Novi Sad, marking a fatal train station canopy collapse that catalysed the youth-led protests demanding early parliamentary elections—a demand Vucic has repeatedly refused.