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Serbian lawmakers throw smoke grenades, tear gas in parliament
Chaos erupted in Serbia’s parliament on Tuesday with opposition lawmakers setting off smoke grenades and tear gas to protest the government and support demonstrating students.
At least three lawmakers were injured, with one in critical condition after suffering a stroke, further fueling political tensions in the landlocked Balkan country, which is located at the crossroads of Southeast and Central Europe.
Video footage from the assembly hall showed a clash first between lawmakers and later flares and smoke bombs being thrown. Serbian media said eggs and water bottles were also hurled. Hundreds of opposition supporters rallied outside the parliament building during the session.
Serbian opposition lawmakers let off smoke grenades inside the Serbian parliament in Belgrade, on March 4, 2025. (SERBIAN PARLIAMENT POOL / VIDEOPLUS/Handout via REUTERS)
SERBIA ROCKED BY ANTI-CORRUPTION PROTESTS AFTER CONSTRUCTION TRAGEDY
The ugly scenes stem from a fatal collapse of a canopy at a railway station in November. The incident sparked mass protests as demonstrators demanded justice and accountability for the tragedy.
Many in Serbia believe the fatal canopy collapse was the result of sloppy work and a disregard for safety regulations because of government corruption. The canopy at the railway station collapsed after renovations led by two Chinese companies.
The protests led to the resignation of Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic in January. The prime minister’s resignation made him the highest regime official to step down, but it hasn’t quelled the uprising and mass protests have continued in Belgrade and across the country.
Parliament must still confirm the prime minister’s resignation for it to take effect.
At the legislative session on Tuesday, lawmakers were scheduled to vote on a law that would increase funding for university education, a key demand by student protesters.
Chaos erupted in Serbia’s parliament on Tuesday with opposition lawmakers setting off smoke grenades and tear gas to protest the government and support demonstrating students. (SERBIAN PARLIAMENT POOL / VIDEOPLUS/Handout via REUTERS)
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But opposition parties said the ruling majority was also planning to approve dozens of other decisions. They said this was illegal and that lawmakers should first confirm the resignation of Vucevic and his government.
After the ruling coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) approved the agenda, some opposition politicians ran out of their seats towards the parliamentary speaker and scuffled with security guards.
Others tossed smoke grenades and tear gas, with black and pink smoke rising inside the parliament, which has also witnessed brawls and the throwing of water in the decades since the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1990.
As the session continued, ruling coalition politicians debated while opposition lawmakers whistled and blew horns.
Opposition deputies also held signs reading «general strike,» and «justice for the killed,» while outside the building protesters stood in silence to honor 15 people killed by a railway station roof collapse.
Parliament speaker Ana Brnabic accused the opposition of being a «terrorist gang.» The ruling coalition says Western intelligence agencies are trying to destabilize Serbia and topple the government by backing the protests.
Students walk on the road towards the northern city of Novi Sad on Jan. 30 to protest the deaths of 15 people killed in the November collapse of a train station canopy, near the Belgrade suburb of Batajnica, Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
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The government has tried to evade scrutiny by downplaying the government’s culpability in the collapse at the station. At first, the government tried to ignore the protests, then began to use force and accused the protests of being infiltrated by foreign agitators.
Some observers complained that the Vucic government’s failure to act and provide clear answers to the public is endemic to Serbia’s core institutional corruption.
Meanwhile, protest leaders called for a major rally in the capital Belgrade on March 15.
Fox News’ Chris Massaro, Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Golpe al chavismo: Estados Unidos le dio un mes a la petrolera Chevron para «la liquidación» de operaciones en Venezuela
Estados Unidos dio de plazo a la petrolera Chevron hasta el 3 de abril para «la liquidación» de operaciones en Venezuela, informó este martes la Oficina de Control de Activos Extranjeros (OFAC).
Siguiendo las instrucciones del presidente Donald Trump, el Departamento del Tesoro ordenó el «cierre de actividades» en el país caribeño de Chevron, de sus «empresas conjuntas» con la petrolera estatal Petróleos de Venezuela PDVSA o de cualquier compañía en la que esta última posea «una participación del 50%».
Con esta finalidad creó la licencia 41A, que entra en vigor este martes y revoca la emitida en noviembre de 2022 por el gobierno del expresidente demócrata Joe Biden.
La nueva licencia impone sin embargo a Chevron, la única petrolera estadounidense que opera en Venezuela, una serie de restricciones que afectan al gobierno del presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro.
Chevron no podrá pagar «impuestos o regalías al gobierno de Venezuela», ni dividendos a PDVSA, ni a ninguna compañía en la que esta posea, «directa o indirectamente, una participación igual o superior al 50%».
También quedan prohibidos la venta de petróleo o productos petroleros «a cualquier jurisdicción que no sea Estados Unidos» y llevar a cabo transacciones con empresas controladas por compañías de la Federación Rusa.
Por último, y como viene siendo costumbre, tampoco se permiten las operaciones con personas sancionadas por Washington.
A finales de febrero Trump ya anunció el fin de la licencia que permite a Chevron operar en Venezuela, una bofetada para el líder chavista.
El magnate republicano acusa a Maduro, cuya reelección no reconoce, de no recoger a migrantes venezolanos en situación irregular al ritmo «que habían acordado».
Trump, al igual que Biden, apoya al opositor venezolano exiliado Edmundo González Urrutia, quien reivindica el triunfo en los comicios presidenciales de julio pasado y asistió a su investidura el 20 de enero.
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Pressured by Trump’s Gaza plan, Arab countries meet in Egypt to discuss alternative proposal
Palestinians discuss leaving Gaza
Some Palestinians in Gaza told the Center for Peace Communications of their desire to leave the Hamas ruled enclave. (Video: The Center For Peace Communications.)
Arab leaders convened in Cairo on Tuesday for an emergency summit aimed at presenting a counterproposal to President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. The summit was held to discuss Egypt’s $53 billion comprehensive reconstruction blueprint for Gaza.
Before Trump proposed resettling Gazans outside the enclave, Egypt and other Arab states had shown little interest in Gaza’s reconstruction. However, given that Egypt has ruled out accepting displaced Palestinians for «national security» reasons, it now finds itself compelled to devise its own plan.
With a $53 billion price tag, the plan is positioned as an alternative to Trump’s vision, and key details have already been shared by Arab media outlets. While Egypt proposes a temporary committee to manage Gaza for six months, Palestinians have made it clear that they will not accept any governing body that isn’t Palestinian or any foreign forces within Gaza. The plan is projected to take at least four and a half years.
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People watch on a big screen as Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, right, welcomes Jordan’s King Abdullah II ahead of an Arab League summit on Gaza on March 4, 2025. (Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)
The Egyptian plan is divided into two phases: the first, lasting two years and costing around $20 billion, and the second, spanning two and a half years with a $30 billion allocation. The funds will primarily go toward rebuilding residential areas devastated by conflict.
Importantly, the plan does not call for the displacement of Gaza’s residents, as Trump’s proposal does, and stresses the importance of Palestinian-led reconstruction efforts, and that the Palestinian Authority will collaborate with Egypt and Jordan to train a police force for Gaza. But Hamas has already rejected the plan, and the Palestinian Authority has made it clear that it will not engage in reconstruction efforts as long as Hamas maintains control.
«The Saudis will fund Gaza if there’s a path to a Palestinian state and Hamas is gone,» Ghaith Al-Omari, senior fellow at the Washington Institute and former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine told Fox News Digital, «Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar want something from the Israelis in return, whether it’s an end to the war or security agreements. They’ll insist on a role for the Palestinian Authority, even if symbolic, for diplomatic reasons. The question is whether the current Israeli government can meet these demands.»
THE HISTORY OF GAZA AMID TRUMP’S PLAN TO REBUILD ENCLAVE
A view of the widespread destruction in Gaza, Jabalia, on Feb. 5, 2025. (Youssef Alzanoun/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
«A militarized Hamas cannot remain in Gaza – the strip must be demilitarized, and Hamas must no longer be in control. The Emiratis are even more extreme on this issue,» Danny Zaken, a senior commentator for Israel Hayom newspaper, told Fox News Digital, «The final draft of the Egyptian plan will avoid directly addressing Hamas. Instead of stating that Hamas will be removed and disarmed, it will say that ‘qualified Palestinian security forces will maintain order with Egyptian backing.’ This approach aims for unanimous approval without addressing Hamas’ fate, but the reality is that it has no practical validity, because in that case the plan has no financial backing,» he explained.
Al-Omari observed, «Arab League summits tend to be a lot of posturing. Who’s going to take care of security? The PA can’t handle that – they’re too weak. No Arab country wants to send troops to Gaza, but they’re also under pressure from the U.S. to contribute.»
An Egyptian diplomatic source told Fox News Digital that Egyptian construction firms are ready to begin work, but the real challenge is political. «Egyptian construction companies are very capable, and they can rebuild Gaza in three years – if there is political will, mainly from Israel and the U.S.,» the source said.
King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 11, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
While Egypt is eager to lead the reconstruction process, its ambitions have created friction with key Gulf states, which are expected to finance much of the effort. Zaken, noted, «The Saudis are concerned because the Egyptians want to control the entire process: Who gets the money, who oversees the reconstruction, who the contractors are for demolition and rebuilding? And even new housing and hotels. The other partners worry about corruption in the process.»
A former U.S. foreign service official warned Fox News Digital that Egypt’s ability to manage such funds is a concern. «The Gulf, which is expected to pay for it, is sick and tired of Egyptian corruption. If they fund the reconstruction, they will demand major oversight to ensure the money doesn’t get lost in Egypt’s power structure,» the source said.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE HOSTAGES AND CEASE-FIRE DEAL BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS SET TO BEGIN SUNDAY
Members of the Hamas terror group gather in Gaza in preparation for the release of four female hostages as part of the ceasefire deal with Israel. (TPS-IL)
Meanwhile, Jordan, which has played a key diplomatic role, has managed to avoid direct involvement in the reconstruction debate. Following King Abdullah’s meeting with Trump, Jordanian officials felt that the pressure had shifted to Egypt and other Arab states. «The Jordanians were very happy with the outcome of the meeting with Trump. They feel that the pressure to accept [a] million Gazans is off them,» Al-Omari said.
At the same time, the broader political future of Gaza remains uncertain. Al-Omari noted that despite the ongoing reconstruction discussions, the primary concern for Arab leaders is how to navigate Trump’s unpredictable stance on Gaza. «Frankly, the main thinking in Arab governments right now is how to engage in a covert process with Trump to walk him back from this. No one expects immediate results, but they do hope that this will move Trump away from the idea of depopulating Gaza,» he said.
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For now, all eyes are on the summit. However, as one former diplomatic source put it, «There’s no real plan yet – just ideas. Everyone is trying to shape it in their favor, but until Hamas’ fate is resolved, we’re all just talking in circles.»
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