COVID-19: Serbia Lifts State Of Emergency, Curfew

The global death toll from the coronavirus has passed 260,000 with more than 3.7 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.

Here’s a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL’s broadcast regions.

Serbia

Serbia’s parliament has lifted a state of emergency and curfew, which were introduced in mid-March to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic told lawmakers on May 6 that Serbia has met all the conditions set by the World Health Organization for relaxing the measures.

“For more than a week, fewer than 5 percent of those tested in Serbia have been infected with the coronavirus, which is the most important condition to lift the state of emergency,” Brnabic said.

After Serbia declared its state of emergency the authorities imposed a daily curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m., along with several weekend curfews lasting from Thursday evening until Monday morning.

Since mid-April, people older than 65 had been forbidden from going out for a month, except for a one-hour daily walk.

Serbia has confirmed almost 10,000 virus cases so far, including more than 200 deaths.

The figures for new cases have been decreasing in recent days.

The country relaxed some measures earlier this week, reopening restaurants and cafes as well as resuming public transport, following repeated noisy protests by Serbs who were stuck at home and resorted to banging tin pans and drums to vent their anger at the government’s moves.

President Aleksandar Vucic on May 4 said Serbia would hold parliamentary and local elections on June 21.

The polls had been scheduled for April 26 but were postponed when the state of emergency was declared.

Opposition parties have indicated they will boycott the elections over accusations that there will not be a level playing field for the campaign.

Many Serbs have accused Vucic, in power since 2012, of oppressing political opponents, stifling media freedoms, corruption, and cronyism.

Vucic has denied the accusations.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, AP, AFP, Reuters, and dpa