Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned on Tuesday, following a wave of protests that swept across the country.
Vucevic became the highest-ranking official to vacate his post amid anti-government demonstrations in the wake of a railway station roof collapsing in the city of Novi Sad that killed 15 people last November.
“I opted for this step ... to defuse tensions,” Vucevic, who took up the premiership in April 2024, told a news conference announcing his resignation.
He added that the mayor of Novi Sad is also leaving his post.
“With this, we have met all demands of the most radical protesters.”
Vucevic’s decision to step down could prompt an early parliamentary election, as his resignation must be confirmed by Belgrade’s parliament, which has 30 days to choose a new government or call a snap election.
Pro-government media outlets in the country have reported that President Aleksandar Vucic will attend a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening to decide whether a new nomination for prime minister will be appointed, or an early election called.
Vucic is expected to address Serbia at 8 p.m. local time.
The opposition Kreni-Promeni party has called for an interim government to be formed, made up of experts sanctioned by students who have led the protests, and has urged other opposition parties not to boycott elections if they are held.
What began as small pockets of protest in Novi Sad spread across Serbia, reaching the capital Belgrade.
Students, teachers, farmers, and other workers turned out in their thousands to blame the disaster on government corruption.
Classes at Serbia’s universities and dozens of schools have been blocked for two months, with students camping inside faculty buildings.
The minister for construction, transportation, and infrastructure, as well as the trade minister, have already stepped down over the incident, but that failed to quell the protests.
Vucic, thus far, has shown no intention of vacating his post, despite opposition parties and rights watchdogs accusing him and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of bribing voters, stifling press freedom, violence, corruption, and ties with organized crime.
Vucic and his party deny the allegations.
The protests, which included students putting up a blockade at a main junction in Belgrade this week, have been largely peaceful.
However, three protesters in Novi Sad were attacked on Monday and laid the blame for the incident at the feet of members of the SNS.
During the attack, a young woman was hospitalized with head injuries.
Strategic Player
Vucic is seen as a strategic player on the international stage, particularly in view of his nation’s historic ties with Russia and its future relationship with the West.Serbia has applied and is currently a candidate to join the European Union, although it has been told it must normalize relations with its former province Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008.
Neither Belgrade nor Moscow recognize Kosovo as a state, and Vucic is set to visit Russia in May.
