A fire and reported shooting at a camp hosting loyalists of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in central Belgrade on Wednesday injured one person, officials said, while Vucic described the incident as a “terrorist attack.”
The fire erupted Wednesday morning at the tents outside the Serbian parliament building, which were set up in March as an apparent human shield against anti-government protests that have roiled Serbia for months and pose the most serious challenge to Vucic's rule.
The camp, known colloquially as “Caciland,” encompasses the white-tent settlement in and around the park and the public square near the parliament building and the president's office.
Police did not issue a formal statement. Footage showed fire breaking out and engulfing one of the tents after a series of popping sounds that resembled gunfire.
Several police officers around the tent camp ducked, pulled out guns and told people to take cover.
Vucic described it as an “awful terrorist attack," telling a hastily called press conference that “it is my political judgement” because "a firearm was used with an aim to cause public danger and with an undoubtful political motive.”
Pro-government tabloids accused a government opponent of being behind the reported shooting.
“It was a question of time before this would happen,” said Vucic, who repeatedly has accused anti-government protesters of violence although their protests have largely been peaceful.
The incident came ahead the Nov. 1 rally marking the first anniversary of a train station canopy collapse that triggered huge youth-led protests against Vucic's authoritarian rule.
The mass rally is planned in Novi Sad, where the Nov. 1, 2024, canopy collapse killed 16 people and was blamed on graft-fueled negligence in construction projects.