Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic resigns as student-led corruption protests sweep country
Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic resigns as student-led corruption protests sweep country
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Milos Vucevic’s Serbian government has come under increasing pressure following the deadly collapse of a concrete roof in Novi Sad. Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic has resigned, becoming the most significant political casualty as mass anti-corruption protests continue to sweep across the country.
![[Thousands held their phone flashlights up in a demonstration on Monday evening]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/28/11/2195735832.jpg)
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, who is accused by critics and rights groups of curbing democratic freedoms in Serbia.
![[Protesters hold Serbia's national flags and wave from a bridge above a highway]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/28/11/2195810741.jpg)
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.
![[Mr Vucevic said he hoped to “reduce tensions” with his resignation]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/28/11/2195736015.jpg)
"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.”.
