MP quits after being caught watching lewd video during debate in parliament

08 February 2023 , 01:03

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Mr Stevic was urged to resign after the footage went viral on social media (Image: Socialist Party of Serbia)

A Serbian MP has resigned after footage of him watching porn during a parliamentary debate went viral on social media this week.

The footage showed Zvonimir Stevic viewing pornographic content on his phone during a tense debate in which lawmakers were discussing a potential deal involving ties with the Republic of Kosovo.

The executive of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party slammed Stevic for "watching a porn movie" during the crucial session that also saw physical clashes break out between politicians.

Mr Stevic was also urged to resign by his own party chief after the video went viral online.

The 65-year-old is a veteran member of the Socialist Party, which is a junior member of Serbia's ruling coalition.

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Many commented on social media after seeing footage of the incident.

Mr Stevic was caught in the act

"He had to resign," one wrote. "It's a good thing he didn't get away with it."

Another simply wrote of the distracted politician: "They don't care about Kosovo."

Serbia and Kosovo have come under increasing pressure to normalise ties, but Belgrade still refuses to recognise its former Albanian-majority province's government, which declared independence in 2008.

Russia and China support Serbia's refusal to recognise the tiny Balkan state, which has a population of under 2 million people.

The Serbian parliament was holding a debate over its future relations with Kosovo (AFP via Getty Images)

The Kosovar Prime Minister has called on Western powers not to pressure his Balkan nation into accepting an association of five Serb-majority municipalities in the region.

Albin Kurti told the Associated Press that the focus of Western nations should instead be on ensuring Serbia is developing a more democratic state.

Mr Kurti added that if Belgrade lets go of the idea that Kosovo still belongs to Serbia, “they will be much more democratic, European".

In the late 1990s, Kosovo was the scene of a bloody war between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war, and the Kosovo Albanian rebel group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

The conflict was brought to an end when NATO intervened by executing air strikes, which led to Yugoslav forces withdrawing from the region.

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Approximately 13,500 people were killed or went missing during the two-year conflict.

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Will Maule