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Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic has resigned, becoming the most significant political casualty as mass anti-corruption protests continue to sweep across the country.
Belgrade has been the centre of protests against the incumbent government after the collapse of a roof in November in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, killing 15 people.
The collapse has become symbolic of wider discontent, with Serbia’s populist president Aleksandar Vucic accused by critics and rights groups of curbing democratic freedoms in Serbia.
The student-led protest movement has seen thousands demonstrating against the government, calling for accountability following the canopy collapse which they blame on government corruption. On Monday, tens of thousands of people joined striking university students in a 24-hour blockade of a vital traffic intersection in Belgrade.
“I opted for this step in order to reduce tensions,” Mr Vucevic told a news conference on Tuesday as he announced his intention to resign. The mayor of Novi Sad, Milan Djuric, will also step down.
“With this we have met all demands of the most radical protesters,” Mr Vucevic added. “It is my appeal for everyone to calm down the passions and return to dialogue.”
Mr Vucevic said the immediate cause for his resignation was the attack on a female student in Novi Sad on Tuesday, by attackers allegedly from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. He said: “Whenever it seems there is hope to return to social dialogue, to talk … it’s like an invisible hand creates a new incident and tensions mount again.”
The resignation could lead to an early parliamentary election, which may bring an end to the rule of Mr Vucevic’s centre-right Serbian Progressive Party after it took power in 2023.
Serbia’s parliament now has 30 days to choose a new government or call a snap election – which pro-government media says will be decided in a cabinet session with the president on Tuesday evening.
Opposition parties will insist on a transitional government which would create the conditions for a free and fair election, they said, after accusations of irregularities during past elections.
“They [the ruling party] have been in a free fall since the Novi Sad tragedy,” journalist Slobodan Georgiev told N1 television. President Vucic was seeking a “buffer” with the prime minister’s resignation, he added, as he looks to survive the wave of anti-government street protests.
The current student protest movement has gained significant support from across Serbia, including actors, farmers, lawyers and judges.
On Monday evening, Mr Vucic, Mr Vucevic, and parliament speaker Ana Brnabic called for dialogue with the students – who have rejected the invitations.
The outgoing prime minister claimed that the street protests were “undoubtedly” organised from abroad, with an “aim to directly jeopardise Serbia as a state”.
