Last update:
The collapse of the canopy, which killed 15 people in the city of Northern Novi Sad, has become a point of inflammation that reflects a broader discontent with the increasingly autocratic rule of the populist president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic. (AFP photo)
Serbia’s populist prime minister, Milos Vucevic, said Tuesday that he will resign after weeks of mass anti -corruption protests on the mortal collapse of a concrete canopy in November.
The collapse of the canopy, which killed 15 people in the city of Northern Novi Sad, has become a point of inflammation that reflects a broader discontent with the increasingly autocratic rule of the populist president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. He has faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms in Serbia despite formally seeking the membership of the European Union for the Balkan Nation with problems.
Vucevic told a press conference that his resignation aims to reduce tensions in Serbia.
“It is my appeal for everyone to calm the passions and return to dialogue,” he said.
The mayor of Novi Sad, Milan Djuric, will also resign on Tuesday, Vucevic said.
It is likely that Vucevic’s resignation leads to an early parliamentary choice. The resignation must be confirmed by the Parliament of Serbia, which has 30 days to choose a new government or call a quick choice.
On Monday, tens of thousands of people joined university students on strike in a 24 -hour block of a key traffic intersection in the Serbian capital. Students have been protesting for weeks, demanding responsibility for the collapse of the canopy that critics have blamed the corruption of the unbridled government.
In another attempt to deactivate tensions, the speaker Vucic, Vucevic and Parliament, Ana Brnabic, urged dialogue with the students on Monday night, who have obtained broad support from all areas of life in Serbia with his call to justice and responsibility.
Serbia prosecutors have filed charges against 13 people, including a government minister and several state officials. But former construction minister Goran Vesic has been released from detention, feeding doubts about the independence of the investigation.
The main railway station in Novi Sad was renewed twice in recent years as part of a broader infrastructure agreement with Chinese state companies.
Several incidents have tarnished street demonstrations in recent weeks, including drivers that get into the crowd twice, when two young women were injured.
The students said Tuesday that one of their colleagues was seriously injured in an attack in Novi Sad by thugs with baseball bats. The students said the thugs attacked two groups of students and persecuted them in a car.
“We are horrified by the state of our society where such a situation is possible,” said Novi Sad students in an Instagram post. “We have had enough blood.” The students called a rally on Tuesday afternoon.
Students and others have been having daily 15 -minute traffic blocks throughout Serbia at 11:52 am, exactly the same time as the concrete canopy crashed on November 1. The blockages honor the 15 victims, including two children.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a FEED -Associated Press Union News Agency)