With measures lifted, Balkans hit by coronavirus case spike

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s president has canceled his party’s campaign rallies and officials in Bosnia, North Macedonia and Albania are appealing on citizens to respect anti-infection measures due to a spike in new coronavirus cases after the Balkan countries relaxed their restrictions.

President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party will not hold rallies ahead of Serbia's June 21 parliamentary election to avoid further spread of the virus, state broadcaster RTS reported on Thursday.

Serbia went from having very strict lockdown measures to a near-total lifting of the government's emergency rules. Vucic's political opponents peg the move to the president's desire to hold the election, which originally was scheduled for April and canceled because of the pandemic, and to cement his grip on power.

Mass gatherings have gradually been allowed with people not keeping social distance or wearing masks although authorities advised utilizing the protections in public. Some 20,000 fans packed a stadium Wednesday during a soccer match between Belgrade’s bitter rival teams, Red Star and Partizan.

Epidemiologists across the Balkan region have said that new clusters are appearing following events such as celebrations, family gatherings or funerals. In Serbia, clusters also have appeared on university campuses in bigger cities.

“The virus is still here,” epidemiologist Branislav Tiodorovic, from the state crisis team, told RTS on Thursday. “We are on the line between an uncertain and a favorable situation.”

“This is something we had expected, but we must all get serious again and implement protection measures,” he warned.

Serbia reported 71 new confirmed cases of infections on Thursday, compared to 18 new cases on June 1. Similar numbers have been...