Violence erupts in Macedonia parliament

Record ID: 735054

  • Title: Violence erupts in Macedonia parliament
  • Date: 27th April 2017
  • Summary: SKOPJE, MACEDONIA (APRIL 27, 2017) (REUTERS) WOMAN ATTEMPTING TO DESCEND FROM MAIN PARLIAMENT CHAMBER GALLERY USING DESKS PLACED ON EACH OTHER, PEOPLE RUSHING TO CHAMBER DOOR TRYING TO BLOCK DEMONSTRATORS FROM ENTERING, DEMONSTRATORS BURSTING INTO PARLIAMENT CHAMBER/LEGISLATORS FLEEING, PEOPLE SCUFFLING, DEMONSTRATORS ATTACKING LEGISLATORS, FISTFIGHT ERUPTING BETWEEN LEGISLATORS AND ATTACKERS, SOME WEARING MASKS, WOMAN SCREAMS AS FIGHTING ESCALATES/SHAKY CAMERA MOVING OUT OF WAY
  • Embargoed: 11th May 2017 22:12
  • Keywords: Macedonia protest injured party leader parliament
  • Location: SKOPJE, MACEDONIA
  • City: SKOPJE, MACEDONIA
  • Country: Macedonia
  • Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016E6FHHJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Protesters stormed into Macedonia's parliament and assaulted the leader of the Social Democrats on Thursday (April 27) after his party and ethnic Albanian allies voted to elect an Albanian as parliament speaker, witnesses said.
    Television footage showed Social Democratic leader Zoran Zaev with blood trickling from one side of his forehead, not long after he announced that the majority coalition led by his party had elected Talat Xhaferi as parliament speaker.
    Nationalist protesters angered over Xhaferi's election were beating up another lawmaker in parliament.
    Some of the roughly 200 protesters inside the parliament were masked.
    Police said eight people including an ethnic Albanian lawmaker were injured in Thursday's violence.
    Macedonia has been without a functioning government since 2015 when the country sank into political turmoil over a wiretapping scandal that brought down the ruling nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party bloc.
    The current crisis is the worst since 2001 when Western diplomacy helped drag the country of 2.1 million people back from the brink of civil war during an ethnic Albanian insurgency, promising it a route to membership of the EU and NATO.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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