Serbia's students vow more anti-graft protests despite PM resignation

Serbia's students vow more anti-graft protests despite PM resignation

Students in Serbia vowed to continue protesting even after the country's Prime Minister Milos Vucevic announced his resignation on Tuesday, following weeks of mass demonstrations over the fatal collapse of a train station roof in November. 

The Balkan country has been rocked by regular protests in the wake of the deadly disaster at the train station in the northern city of Novi Sad that killed 15 people.

The collapse, which followed extensive renovation work at the station, has ignited long-standing anger across Serbia over corruption and the alleged lack of oversight on construction projects.

"My irrevocable decision is to resign from the position of prime minister," Vucevic told a press conference in Belgrade, following a meeting with President Aleksandar Vucic. 

"In order to avoid further complicating things, so we do not further raise tensions in society, I made this decision."

Before taking up an earlier government post in Belgrade, Vucevic had served as mayor of Novi Sad from 2012 to 2022, during which time renovations began at the train station.  

The prime minister has been in office for less than a year.

More than a dozen people have been charged in connection with the Novi Sad accident, including former transport minister Goran Vesic, who resigned in the days after.

Tensions have simmered in Serbia in recent weeks with violence breaking out at some protests, with students accusing pro-government hooligans of targeting demonstrations. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the interior ministry said it had arrested four people accused of assaulting a female student overnight at a rally in Novi Sad.

- 'Resignation means nothing' -

The prime minister's announcement came as thousands of protesters ended a 24-hour blockade at a major traffic intersection in Belgrade -- the latest in a series of massive rallies held across the country. 

Hours later, protesters continued to march at scattered demonstrations in Belgrade, Novi Sad and the southern city of Nis. 

The blockade followed a call for a general strike by student organisers last Friday that saw lawyers stop work and the closure of small businesses and schools across Serbia. 

Students have emerged as the leaders of the protest movement and have been blockading campuses across the country for weeks. 

During an evening address Tuesday, Vucic took to the airwaves to lash out at the protests and his political enemies, as he floated the idea of calling for early elections.  

"Our stability is threatened, civil peace is threatened, many things are threatened," said Vucic during the press conference, while insisting that the government had met the protesters demands. 

"Serbia will preserve stability. Serbia will preserve peace," the president added. 

Student organisers continue to demand more action, including greater transparency into the investigation and the release of all documents linked to the renovation of the station. 

For months, Vucic and other government officials have oscillated between issuing calls for talks and firing off allegations that the demonstrators were being backed by foreign powers. 

The government has released a raft of documents linked to the station's renovations, but experts from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade say they are incomplete.

Other key demands include dropping charges against protesters arrested at rallies, an end to attacks on demonstrators and increased government spending on education.

Following premier Vucevic's announcement, students who spoke to AFP insisted that their demands had still not been met. 

"The prime minister's resignation means nothing to the students. Our demands are clear and we will continue protesting no matter who resigns," said Maksim Jankovic, a 19-year-old biology student at Belgrade University. 

Shortly after Vucevic resigned, Novi Sad mayor Milan Djuric said he also would be stepping down.

"Resigning is not an expression of weakness or retreat in the face of challenges, but an act of assuming responsibility and opening space for the restoration of trust among people," the mayor said in a statement posted on social media.  

As premier, Vucevic was officially the head of government in Serbia.

However the position is largely considered to be subordinate to Vucic, who has ruled the country for more than a decade.

Dragan Popovic, a Belgrade-based analyst with the Centre for Practical Politics, said the resignations were unlikely to quell the protests.  

"I believe this is clearly a desperate move. They had to do something, to try some desperate measures to divert attention primarily from the students' demands," Popovic told AFP.  

dd-ds/sbk

Originally published as Serbia's students vow more anti-graft protests despite PM resignation