Shooting and tent inferno outside Serbian Parliament fuels Vučić’s ‘terror’ outcry

А violent attack unfolded on 22 October outside the Serbian parliament when a 70-year-old man, Vladan Andjelković, shot a 57-year-old man and set fire to a tent camp occupied by supporters of President Aleksandar Vučić.

The incident, which Vučić labeled a “terrorist act,” left one person seriously injured and the suspect detained, intensifying Serbia’s ongoing political crisis.

According to the Serbian newspaper Telegraf, the attacker shot the victim and then fired at a gas cylinder to ignite the tents in the camp, located in a park between the parliament and the presidential building.

The camp was established by Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party to counter mass protests sparked by the collapse of a concrete canopy at Novi Sad’s train station on 1 November, 2024, which killed 16 people. The tragedy, widely attributed to corruption and negligence, fueled unrelenting protests with demands for accountability, transparent investigations, and early elections.

Vučić, who interrupted a government event to address the incident, condemned the attack as a manifestation of “hatred” against his supporters. During a press conference, he presented footage of the suspect’s arrest, where Andjelković admitted to buying gasoline for arson and targeting the camp out of frustration, hoping police would kill him.

The President claimed his party’s premises had been attacked 812 times, and argued that opposition forces, facing political failure, had resorted to violence. “I call on everyone in Serbia to leave this to state authorities,” he urged.

Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar reported that the injured man’s condition was stable, though his identity remains undisclosed. Police confirmed the suspect’s detention, and fire brigades and ambulances responded swiftly to the scene.

However, MP Bodan Radovanović noted confusion among authorities, with initial fears of ammunition and explosives in the camp prompting temporary restrictions on parliament members leaving the building.

Opposition voices, including MP Marinika Tepić, criticized the tent camp as a “den of crime,” alleging it housed weapons and convicted criminals, creating a “human shield” for Vučić. “This camp must be dismantled; it poses a public danger,” Tepić stated.

Serbian basketball player Vladimir Štimac echoed these concerns on social media, claiming the camp was armed with weaponry provided by Vučić’s party, questioning whether the incident signaled the regime’s unraveling.

The Democratic Party reported unverified claims of additional injuries and detentions, but official statements from the Ministry of the Interior remain absent.

Decades after the Yugoslav wars, Serbia remains awash with an estimated 900,000 illegal small arms and light weapons circulating among civilians, posing a profound threat to societal stability through heightened risks of organized crime and violence, while fueling lucrative arms smuggling networks that supply extremists and gangs across Western Europe.

The European Parliament, in a resolution adopted on 22 October, expressed alarm over Serbia’s deteriorating political climate.

The resolution, the third in 2024 addressing Serbia’s crisis, condemned the use of force against demonstrators and called for stronger democratic institutions, judicial independence, and anti-corruption measures. It urged Belgrade to engage in dialogue with opposition groups and ensure the safety of peaceful protesters, emphasizing that Serbia’s EU accession depends on upholding democratic norms. The European Commission will monitor the implementation of these recommendations.

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Caption: Police officers secure the scene in front of the Parliament building as smoke billows from a tent, in Belgrade, Serbia, 22 October 2025. A man was seriously injured in a shooting incident outside the parliament building, near a tent of supporters of President Vucic, who described the incident as a ‘terrorist act.’ One person was detained in connection with the shooting. EPA/STRINGER