Serbia's protesting students demand a snap election
[May 06, 2025]
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's protesting university students
are demanding a snap election after months of anti-corruption
demonstrations that have shaken populist President Aleksandar Vucic's
tight grip on power in the Balkan country.
A statement posted to a joint social media account late Monday said that
an early vote is the only way out of a deep political crisis in Serbia
triggered by a train station disaster that killed 16 people on Nov. 1,
which was widely blamed on government corruption. |
University students and people protest in front of the government
building, six months after the deadly train station tragedy that sparked
mass demonstrations against corruption, in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday,
May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) |
|
The station building in the northern city of Novi Sad had been
renovated twice before its concrete canopy crashed on the people
below. Critics said graft-fueled negligence and disrespect for
safety rules caused the huge construction to collapse.
The disaster sparked months of protests demanding justice and
the rule of law, which have garnered huge support among Serbia's
citizens drawing hundreds of thousands of people.
“Government corruption is so deeply rooted in state institutions
that they are unable perform their duties independently,” the
protesting students said. “We believe that democracy is the only
right way to solve a political crisis of such proportions.”
A snap election would entail dissolving of the
populist-dominated parliament and scheduling the early vote. The
ruling Serbian Progressive Party leader and former Prime
Minister Milos Vucevic has rejected the idea, saying it would
spell a “disaster” for the country.
Vucic, a right-wing populist whom critics accuse of stifling
democratic freedoms, has alleged the student protesters were
staging a “color revolution” under orders from the West. Vucic
is formally saying he wants Serbia to join the European Union
while boosting ties with Russia and China.
Serbia’s protesting students post statements and protest
announcements on the joint social media account Students in
Blockade. They have no leaders or spokespersons and make
decisions at faculty plenary sessions.
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