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Thousands in Serbia protest new COVID-19 restrictions

Thousands of people in Serbia gathered in front of the National Assembly Building in Belgrade on Tuesday night to protest a weekend curfew announced by President Aleksandar Vucic. Photo by Andrej Cukic/EPA-EFE
Thousands of people in Serbia gathered in front of the National Assembly Building in Belgrade on Tuesday night to protest a weekend curfew announced by President Aleksandar Vucic. Photo by Andrej Cukic/EPA-EFE

July 7 (UPI) -- Thousands of people gathered in Serbia's capital on Tuesday to protest new restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Protesters congregated in front of the National Assembly Building in Belgrade in response to President Aleksandar Vucic announcing a weekend curfew in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

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A group of protesters pushed past a police cordon and broke into the parliament building before being pushed back by police.

Vucic announced that beginning on Wednesday, public gatherings must be limited to five or fewer people and a curfew will be instituted from Friday until at least Monday.

He also declared that more than two million people will need to be vaccinated before the fall in preparation for a second wave of the virus.

"We will have to avoid the collision of the corona and the flu, which means that we will have to vaccinate more than two million people against the flu," Vucic said.

Serbia has reported 16,719 positive COVID-19 cases and 330 deaths related to the virus, according to figures by John's Hopkins University.

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