Serbia PM Milos Vucevic quits after months of mass protests

Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic has resigned, following nationwide protests over the deadly collapse of a railway station canopy.

He said he had acted “to avoid further complicating things” and so as to “not further raise tensions in society”.

Fifteen people died in November when a concrete canopy at a railway station collapsed in the city of Novi Sad. Tens of thousands of people have been regularly taking to the streets since then, demanding accountability for the collapse and protesting against corruption.

In a TV address late on Tuesday, President Aleksandar Vucic said he would decide within the next 10 days on whether to hold parliamentary elections or form a new government.

More than a dozen people have been charged in connection with the Novi Sad incident, including former Transport Minister Goran Vesic – who resigned days after it happened.

Students have taken the lead with the protests, halting traffic daily and blockading universities for months.

Last Friday, many Serbians stayed off work in response to a call for a general strike, while in December an estimated 100,000 people attended a demonstration in Belgrade. Many smaller protests have been held in towns and cities across the country.

Tensions rose on Monday when, during a 24-hour blockade of the busiest road junction in the capital, Belgrade, a female student was injured in clashes between the opposition and supporters of the governing party.

That evening, President Vucic said he would pardon students and university tutors who faced charges in connection with the protests and announced a major government reshuffle, saying he expected more than half of ministers to be replaced.

In his Tuesday’s address after an emergency meeting with the government, the president said he would sign pardons for 13 people on Wednesday.

He insisted that he and the government had now met student protesters’ demands for transparency about the reconstruction of Novi Sad railway station.

Opposition parties have been calling for a transitional government which they say could create the conditions for free and fair elections. But Vucic rejected those demands, saying Serbians “want normal people in power, not politicians who have no trust”.

Vucic also revealed he was considering “three or four names” to succeed Vucevic – but added that he was open to other suggestions.

Vucevic, who is the leader of the governing Serbian Progressive Party, was in office for less than a year.

He previously served as minister of defence and was the mayor of Novi Sad – Serbia’s second-largest city – in 2012-20, during early stages of the railway station’s reconstruction project.

Vucevic said Novi Sad Mayor Milan Djuric would fulfil “the most political of the demands of some of the most extreme protesters” and also resign.

Now the question is whether the departures will be enough to mollify the mostly young people who have been staging regular and increasingly elaborate demonstrations.

A change in the head of government is less significant than it might initially appear, because the real power in Serbia lies with Vucic.

Vucevic – a trusted ally of the president – said he hoped that his decision to quit as prime minister would encourage protesters to “calm down the passions and return to dialogue”.

But it may also pave the way for parliamentary elections, if a new prime minister is not appointed within 30 days of the National Assembly confirming the resignation.

Vucic has also been pushing the idea of an “advisory referendum” on his own role, saying that he would stand down if he lost that vote.

However, a change in power currently seems unlikely.

The ruling Serbian Progressive Party is well-organised – and international election monitors have noted that it dominates Serbia’s media space.

It comfortably won the most recent parliamentary elections just over a year ago. In contrast, the opposition remains fractured and without many allies in the media.

The reaction of the protesters may be crucial to what happens next.

If enough of them view the prime minister’s resignation as a significant development, then the recent run of demonstrations may fizzle out in a similar fashion to a number of previous anti-government movements.

If they decide to carry on protesting, the turbulence in Serbia may be set to continue.