Violence Accompanies Serbian Environmental Protests

A group of men threw stones at protesters against new environment-related legislation in the Serbian city of Novi Sad on December 4. Scuffles between the attackers and the protesters followed, and some protesters attacked the local office of the Movement of Socialists, a member of the ruling coalition. Protests and road blockades also took place in the capital, Belgrade, as well as Nis and other cities. Thousands of demonstrators decried new expropriation and referendum bills, which they believe pave the way to the government's plan to launch lithium mining.