Serbian students who have been holding huge protests against government corruption for 3 months have forced the prime minister to resign.
The student-led demonstrations started after the roof of a railway station collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing 15 people, aged between six and 74.
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Protesters said the accident had happened due to sloppy renovation work by a Chinese company as a result of government corruption.
A woman holds a placard reading "Smells like corruption spirit" during a demonstration in front of the government building in central Belgrade on Jan. 24, 2025 (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)
Serbians living in Athens hold posters supporting student-led protests against the Serbian government on Jan. 26, 2025 (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)
Although authorities eventually arrested 13 people over the incident, protesters continued to peacefully take to the streets in some of the biggest protests Serbia has seen in years.
This aerial photograph shows demonstrators and students as they gather in front of Serbia's Constitutional Court to demand accountability for the Novi Sad railway station tragedy, in Belgrade, on Jan. 12, 2025. (Photo by TADIJA ANASTASIJEVIC / AFP)
The protests have garnered widespread support from workers across all sectors, including professors and lawyers, who held a one week strike in solidarity.
Students block a street in Belgrade on Dec. 12, 2024, standing in silence to honor the 15 victims of the tragedy that occurred at the railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)
A protester faces a police officer during a demonstration in front of the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure in Belgrade on Nov. 3, 2024. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)
On Monday, Jan. 27, protesters, joined by farmers on their tractors, staged a 24-hour blockade on a major road leading to Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.
Protestors and students wave to passing drivers from a highway bridge during a demonstration in Belgrade on Jan. 27, 2025. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, after nearly three months, Serbia’s prime minister Miloš Vučević announced he and Novi Sad's mayor would resign “to defuse tensions”.
Serbia's prime minister Miloš Vučević holds a press conference announcing his resignation following months of mass demonstrations over the fatal collapse of a train station roof in November, in Belgrade on Jan. 28, 2025. (Photo by OLIVER BUNIC / AFP)
However, demonstrations are likely to continue, and Serbia’s parliament must now appoint a new prime minister within 30 days.
A student holds a banner which reads, "changes from the root" during a widespread blockade of higher education institutions in downtown Belgrade on December 22, 2024. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)
Sofia Hou
Cherry Mohamed
Sofia Hou
