Sunday's local elections marred by incidents

BELGRADE - A series of incidents outside of polling stations were registered in Sunday's local elections in ten self-government units in Serbia.

The elections were held in the city of Bor and the municipalities of Smederevska Palanka, Bajina Basta, Kula, Lucani, Arandjelovac, Kladovo, Knjazevac, Majdanpek and Sevojno.

Officials of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) accused opposition supporters of organised violence and attacks on SNS supporters on several locations.

Among other incidents, the SNS reported that a crew of a pro-opposition media outlet in Kladovo had barged into the party's call centre in an attempt to intimidate those inside, as well as that a financier of pro-blockade activists in Bajina Basta had drawn a handgun on SNS activists.

On the other hand, reports by pro-opposition media outlets and social media posts featured allegations of electoral irregularities and attacks on activists of student-led and opposition electoral lists.

Supporters of students and opposition parties gathered at several buildings in Crvenka and Kula, including outside SNS offices in Crvenka, where they were separated from SNS members by police.

Students who have participated in blockades in the country announced rallies outside municipal buildings in a bid to "protect the will of the voters".

In the evening, Gendarmerie troops separated opposition supporters from another group of people outside the municipality building in Arandjelovac, while a pro-opposition crowd was confronted by a police cordon outside the municipality building in Lucani.