site.btaDiscontent against Authorities Grows in Serbia after Roof Collapse Tragedy, Transport Minister to Resign

Opposition parties, activists and citizens in Serbia are calling for resignations and new protests after the collapse of a roof of the railway station in Serbia's second largest city Novi Sad on Friday killed 14 people.

Hundreds of opposition activists protested in Belgrade Sunday, accusing the authorities of corruption and negligence and demanding the resignation of the Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesic.

A new protest is planned for Tuesday evening near the Novi Sad train station, which the Bravo Movement has invited Prime Minister Milos Vucevic to attend, En1 television reported.

After Tuesday's protest in Novi Sad, a large protest is planned in Belgrade, said Borislav Novakovic of the People's Movement of Serbia and former mayor of Novi Sad.

President Aleksandar Vucic also said Monday that he was sure the competent authorities would find out who was responsible for the tragedy, Tanjug reported.

Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, who used to be mayor of Novi Sad, said Sunday that the prosecutor's office and the police are working to establish who is responsible and that political responsibility will not be avoided.

The Novi Sad station was built in 1964 and renovated in 2021 and 2022, with minor renovation work completed in July this year, when the Transport Ministry said a total of EUR 16 million had been invested in the renovation, according to Reuters.

Construction Minister Goran Vesic, the state-owned Serbian Railway Company, the state Institute of Transport and a Chinese consortium comprising China Railway International Co. Ltd and China Communications Construction Company, which renovated the train station, said on Friday that the part of the building that collapsed was not part of the renovation work.

According to Serbian media, the cause of the collapse of the canopy may be long-neglected rust on the metal parts of the structure, DPA noted.

Novi Sad prosecutors questioned 26 people over the weekend, including Vesic.

The opposition newspaper Danas asks in a headline "Will Aleksandar Vucic sacrifice Goran Vesic over Novi Sad tragedy?"

So far there are no signs that anyone in the government is ready to resign, Danas writes, but according to those the newspaper talked to, the resignations should start with the president himself, as "absolute power carries absolute responsibility".

Aleksandar Olenik, a member of the leadership of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, said that political responsibility in this case applies to all functionaries who were responsible for the maintenance and repair of public facilities.

Journalist Nedim Sejdimovic said that in terms of responsibility, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party will act depending on how the situation develops to decide "who to sacrifice". According to him, the ruling party is now buying time by expecting the situation to settle.

Representatives of the opposition movement "Initiate Change" filed today "two complaints against those responsible for the fall of the station visor in Novi Sad".

The movement leader Savo Manojlovic said that one of the complaints is against unknown perpetrators directly responsible for the death of people after the collapse of the canopy, while the other complaint is related to the creation of conditions for corruption in the construction.

"We are filing these complaints against Aleksandar Vucic, Ana Brnabic (the speaker of the Serbian parliament, ed.) and Milos Vucevic - they are the main generators of corruption in the construction," said movement leader Savo Manojlovic, noting that prices were inflated during the renovation of the station.

According to Serbian media, the windows of the Novi Sad branch of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party were smashed and under the portraits of Vucic and Vucevic was written "Murderers", Serbian media reported.

Posters were placed around the city with the words "Crime", "It is not tragedy but corruption that kills - you will be held responsible".

Vladimir Varsajko, Novi Sad city council chairman of the branch of the opposition Freedom and Justice Party, said Friday's tragedy occurred because no one was held accountable for the 2023 mass shootings in Serbia.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic will formally resign on Tuesday. He announced at a press conference on Monday that he will present his resignation to Serbia's prime minister on November 5.

He also said that he had proposed Vucevic's resignation as early as Friday, when the tragedy occurred, and had also communicated his intention to President Aleksandar Vucic. Vesic said he did not accept blame for the misfortune, but resigned as a responsible person. 

In May 2023, a teenager shot dead nine students and a security guard at a school in the centre of Belgrade, and a day later a young man shot and killed eight people in a village near Belgrade. Monthly mass protests under the slogan "Serbia against violence" followed, leading to early parliamentary elections won by President Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party. 

In 2024 the government is facing mass protests again, after the government revived a plan to open a lithium mine in the Jadar Valley, western Serbia by the international company Rio Tinto. The project was halted two years ago because of protests by environmental activists. Some citizens and eco-activists are against lithium and boron mining, as they say it poses a great risk to the environment.