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Serb Parliament to Reconvene as Protests Against Curfews Widen

Serb Parliament to Reconvene as Protests Against Curfews Widen

(Bloomberg) --

Serbian lawmakers are scheduled to gather on Tuesday for the first time since the state of emergency was imposed six weeks ago, a move that opposition leaders vow to skip as locked-down citizens began banging pots and shouting out of windows for five minutes each evening.

Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic said a parliamentary meeting “in accordance with the situation facing the state and the nation,” will “serve as a good practice for future states of emergency.” Serbia declared the state of emergency on March 15 and imposed a daily curfew in what has been one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns.

Opposition groups, which have boycotted parliament for 14 months, pledged not to attend as 45 decrees adopted over six weeks are to be discussed. They will gather on April 30, the start of a four-day weekend curfew -- the second in two weeks -- to protest what they call “the most draconian lockdown measures seen only in China.”

The citizens’ protest against the strict measures at 8 p.m. began on Sunday, mainly in Belgrade, organizers hoping it will spread beyond the big cities and into the countryside.

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