Tens of thousands gather in Belgrade protest over mass shootings

Serbia's main opposition parties protest against violence and in reaction to the two mass shootings in the same week, that have shaken the country, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 19, 2023. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Tens of thousands marched through Belgrade on Friday in an anti-government protest following two mass shootings that killed 18 people, blaming the deaths on a culture of violence that critics say authorities have allowed to fester unchecked.

On May 3 a teenage boy killed nine pupils and a security guard in the first school mass shooting in Serbia, and a day later a 21-year-old man killed eight outside Belgrade.