Mass protests have rocked Serbia for months as protesters demand justice and accountability after the deaths of 15 people in the collapse of a railway station.
Tens of thousands of college students have been marching for nearly three months demanding those responsible for the calamity be held accountable and prosecuted accordingly. The canopy at the railway station collapsed Nov. 1 after renovations led by two Chinese companies.
A general strike was called last week, with many calling off work as people blocked major streets in Belgrade and occupied university campuses in solidarity with the young protesters.
“I’ve worked in the Balkans for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Tanya Domi, professor at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, told Fox News Digital.
KOSOVO ACCUSES SERBIA OF ‘TERRORIST ATTACK’ RESEMBLING RUSSIAN ACTIONS IN UKRAINE
With protests showing no signs of dissipating, Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic announced his resignation, and the mayor of Novi Sad, the city where the tragedy occurred, also stepped down.
“The protests already took down two scalps, and I think more are to come,” Domi said.
The prime minister’s resignation made him the highest regime official to step down, but it hasn’t quelled the uprising. Mass protests continued to break out in Belgrade and across the country.
“The resignation of the prime minister is simply not enough,” Helena Ivanov, senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Institute, told Fox News Digital.
Ivanov said the student-led protesters have clearly defined objectives, including full transparency about the process that led to the collapse and holding those responsible accountable for the loss of life.
The government has thus far been unclear and tried to evade scrutiny by downplaying the government’s culpability. At first, the government tried to ignore the protests, then began to use force and accused the protests of being infiltrated by foreign agitators. Some observers complain the Vucic government’s failure to act and provide clear answers to the public is endemic of Serbia’s core institutional corruption.
ZELENSKYY WARNS RUSSIA WANTS TO CAUSE ‘EXPLOSION’ IN THE BALKANS
“For protesters, the Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse cannot be treated as an incident and isolated event, but rather a symptom of more widespread negligence and systemic corruption that precipitated into this tragedy,” Sinisa Vukovic, director of the global policy program at Johns Hopkins University, told Fox News Digital.
The unprecedented resignation of the prime minister leaves the government in flux. The country will either see a new prime minister and government formed within 30 days or face snap elections. However, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic addressed the nation and said he will decide in the next 10 days whether Serbia faces a snap election.
“This is a legitimate challenge to Vucic’s rule and the biggest challenge the president and his party have faced in the 13 years of their rule,” Ivanov added.
Serbia’s Foreign Minister, Marko Djuric, told Fox News Digital Serbia’s commitment to stability, reform and continued growth remains unchanged. The foreign minister said, “We are listening, we are learning and we are determined to ensure that Serbia moves forward on its path of economic and democratic development.”
The protests are the most difficult to deal with from the perspective of the government and the president, Ivanov noted. The students have distanced themselves from the opposition party, which does not have broad support from the public and is generally considered weak and ineffective.
Students across the country are saying this is their fight, not the unpopular political opposition, leading to a greater show of force among the population.
“After 13 years of one individual dominating Serbian politics and 13 years of very important governmental institutions failing to do their job, the key message of these protests is that we expect these institutions to do their job well,” Ivanov said.
Security forces began suppressing the protests, which further exacerbated tensions and motivated more people to join the protests.
Ivana Stradner, research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital the Trump administration should not fall for Serbian President Vucic’s usual tricks of trying to balance between the U.S. and its adversaries.
“Vucic has allowed China’s weapons and investments to thrive in Serbia. Serbia’s close ties to Iran and Russia are also undermining America’s interests. His domestic propaganda portrays the U.S. as an enemy. With friends like Vucic, Washington does not need enemies,” Stradner warned.
