Serbs Cancel Election Rallies as Region Ups Virus Response

(Bloomberg) -- Serbia canceled campaign events for the country’s April 26 parliamentary elections, the second eastern European nation to do so in two days as the region steps up measures to contain the coronavirus.

President Aleksandar Vucic said his Serbian Progressive Party would halt rallies to prevent the further spread of the disease after the number of cases in the Balkan state more than doubled overnight to 12, state-owned Tanjug news service reported Wednesday.

Vucic, who initially played down the virus by saying more people die of normal flu, said canceling the elections wasn’t an option.

“If we’d have a much more difficult situation, the elections may be postponed, but for two, three weeks,” Vucic told reporters in Belgrade. He will discussp potential financial aid from the European Union for Serbia with German Chancellor Angela Merkel this weekend.

Vucic’s Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, suspended major campaign events ahead of the May 10 presidential election, in which he is vying for a second term.

Poland, which has confirmed 25 coronavirus cases, also shut schools, banned large social events and closed cinemas, museums and other cultural sites, following similar measures by other countries in the region including the Czech Republic and Romania.

“We want to slow the spread of virus and we need decisive action,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters.

To contact the reporters on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net;Gordana Filipovic in Belgrade at gfilipovic@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.