Foreigners flock to Serbia to get coronavirus vaccine shots

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of vaccine-seekers from countries neighboring Serbia have flocked to Belgrade after Serbian authorities offered free coronavirus jabs to foreigners who showed up over the weekend. Long lines of Bosnians, Montenegrins and Macedonians formed in front of the main vaccination center in the Serbian capital on Saturday as police kept watch. Most of Serbia’s Balkan neighbors have been struggling with shortages and have barely started mass vaccination drives, while Serbia boasts of having ample supplies and one of Europe’s highest per capita vaccination rates. Critics of populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic contend he is trying to spread his influence in the Balkans and to polish the ultranationalist image he acquired during Yugoslavia’s bloody breakup.