Serbia: Prime minister resigns amid ongoing protests – DW – 01

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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.
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.
Addressing a press conference in Belgrade, the prime minister described the resignation as an “irrevocable decision.”
He also accused critics of the government of taking advantage of the train station canopy collapse for “political” purposes.
His term coincided with the time renovations in the city’s now collapsed train station began.

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In the wake of the deadly train station collapse in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, last year, Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic announced his resignation on Tuesday.

In order to reduce tensions in the nation, Vucevic resigned, saying, “It is my appeal for everyone to calm down the passions and return to dialogue.”.

After the parliament confirms the resignation, it has 30 days to either call a snap election or select a new government.

Since the Novi Sad train station collapse last November, which claimed 15 lives, protests against the government of populist President Aleksandar Vucic have been held virtually every day. Vucevic is the president’s close ally.

What did Vucevic say?

The resignation was characterized as an “irrevocable decision” by the prime minister during a press conference in Belgrade. “.”.

“I met with the Serbian president for a long time this morning. This is what we discussed. After we discussed everything, he agreed with my points of view,” he continued. Therefore, I made this choice to prevent things from getting more complicated and to prevent escalating social tensions. “.

He declared that until a new cabinet is formed, he and the other government ministers would continue to serve in their current capacities.

Vucevic brought up an attack on student demonstrators in Novi Sad the day before in his speech, stating that the attackers had injured one student.

Additionally, he charged that government critics were exploiting the collapse of the train station canopy for “political” ends.

Vucevic added that Milan Duric, the mayor of Novi Sad, had also submitted his resignation.

Demonstrators blame corruption and subpar construction for the roof collapse.

Less than a year has passed since Vucevic took office. He had previously been mayor of Novi Sad from 2012 to 2022. The start of the city’s now-demolished train station’s renovations coincided with his term.

Protesters have called for quicker legal action against those found guilty, blaming the incident on widespread corruption, nepotism, and subpar construction work.

Days following the collapse, Goran Vesic, the former minister of transport, resigned. He has been charged in relation to the incident along with a number of other people.

sdi/lo (AP, Reuters), rmt.

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