On Dec. 17, President Aleksandar Vucic's populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) secured nearly 47% of the votes in the parliamentary election and the opposition alliance Serbia Against Violence (SPN) almost 24%. At the opening session, opposition lawmakers blew whistles and waved banners reading "Election fraud" and "You stole elections", trading insults with their SNS counterparts. Radomir Lazovic, an opposition lawmaker, said plainclothed police and the parliament's security detail had stepped up checks at the parliament building to intimidate the opposition. Since the election, the SPN, other opposition parties and civil society groups have staged protests to demand a rerun of the vote. Serbia's opposition and rights watchdogs accuse Vucic and the SNS of stifling media freedoms, violence against opponents, corruption, and ties with organised crime.

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Persons: Aleksandar Vucic's, Radomir Lazovic, Marinika, Vucic, Aleksandar Vasovic, Ros Russell Organizations: BELGRADE, Reuters, Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, European Union Locations: Serbia