Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic announced his resignation on Tuesday following ongoing protests that have persisted since a deadly train station collapse in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, last year.
“It is my appeal for everyone to calm down the passions and return to dialogue,” Vucevic said, adding that his resignation was aimed at lowering tensions in the country.
The resignation must be confirmed by the parliament, which then has 30 days to choose a new government or call a snap election.
Protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic’s government have been taking place almost daily since the Novi Sad train station collapse last November, which killed 15 people. Vucevic is a close ally of the president.
What did Vucevic say?
Addressing a press conference in Belgrade, the prime minister described the resignation as an “irrevocable decision.”
“I had a long meeting with the president of Serbia this morning. We talked about this. We talked about everything, and he accepted my arguments,” he added. “So in order to avoid further complicating things, so we do not further raise tensions in society, I made this decision.”
He said that he and government ministers would remain in office in working capacity until a new cabinet is formed.
In his address, Vucevic pointed to an attack on student protesters in Novi Sad that occurred the previous day, adding that one student was injured by the attackers.
He also accused critics of the government of taking advantage of the train station canopy collapse for “political” purposes.
Vucevic said that Novi Sad’s mayor, Milan Duric, had also presented his resignation.
Protesters blame roof collapse on poor construction work, corruption
Vucevic has been in office for less than a year. He had earlier served as Novi Sad mayor from 2012 to 2022. His term coincided with the time renovations in the city’s now collapsed train station began.
Demonstrators blame the incident on widespread corruption, nepotism and poor construction work and have called for swifter judicial action against those found responsible.
Former Transport Minister Goran Vesic resigned days after the collapse. He and several others have been charged in connection with the incident.
rmt, sdi/lo (AP, Reuters)
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