Serbia's government resigns as Vučić threatens June elections

Serbia's parliament confirmed the resignation of Prime Minister Miloš Vučević on Wednesday, 19 March, ending weeks of political limbo that began when he first announced his intention to step down in late January. The move comes after the largest street demonstrations the country has seen in decades, triggered by the collapse of a newly renovated railway station canopy in Novi Sad that killed 15 people on 1 November last year. President Aleksandar Vučić, who has dominated Serbian politics for more than a decade, immediately raised the stakes: if a new government is not formed within 30 days, he said on Sunday, he will call early elections, most likely for 8 June, just 18 months after the last general election.

A collapse that became a catalyst

The Novi Sad station had been rebuilt as part of a high-speed rail link between Belgrade and Budapest, a flagship project under China's Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese contractors carried out the work under contracts that protesters and opposition figures say were negotiated without transparency, proper oversight or independent technical supervision. When the concrete canopy fell onto the forecourt below, killing 15 and injuring dozens, public anger focused not only on the immediate cause but on a system that many Serbians believe treats infrastructure projects as vehicles for patronage rather than public service.

The government's initial response, limited condolences, a promise of investigation, and the release of heavily redacted project documents, only deepened suspicion. By mid-March, the protests had spread from Novi Sad to Belgrade, Niš, Kragujevac and smaller towns. On Saturday, 15 March, organisers estimated that more than 100,000 people gathered in front of the National Assembly in Belgrade, the biggest single demonstration since the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000. Students, trade unionists, pensioners and opposition politicians marched together under banners demanding accountability, the publication of all contracts related to the railway programme, and the resignation of officials deemed responsible.

Vučević's delayed departure

Vučević, a close Vučić ally who had served as defence minister before becoming prime minister in May 2024, first offered his resignation on 28 January. But the parliament, controlled by Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), did not vote to accept it until Wednesday. The delay allowed the president to manage the transition on his own terms, announcing a series of limited concessions, the dismissal of the construction minister, the release of some documents, a pledge to punish those responsible, while insisting that the protests were politically motivated attempts to unseat him personally. Vučić has repeatedly characterised the demonstrators as tools of foreign intelligence services, a claim for which no evidence has been presented.

The resignation itself changes little in formal terms. Vučević remains in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is elected. The SNS holds a comfortable parliamentary majority, meaning any successor will almost certainly be another Vučić loyalist. The real question is whether the president can use the 30-day window to defuse the street movement or whether he will be forced into an election he would prefer to avoid.

Protesters unconvinced by partial concessions

The core demand, full, unredacted publication of all contracts, feasibility studies, correspondence and supervisory reports related to the Belgrade-Budapest railway, has not been met. The government released thousands of pages in February, but critical sections on pricing, risk allocation and Chinese contractor obligations were blacked out. Protest leaders say the redactions confirm their suspicion that the contracts contain clauses favourable to Chinese state firms at Serbia's expense. They also point to the absence of any independent international audit of the project's technical specifications.

Student organisations, which have been at the forefront of the protests since December, have rejected the government's resignation as insufficient. In a statement issued after Wednesday's vote, the University of Belgrade's student plenums said they would continue daily blockades of faculty buildings and major intersections until all documentation is published and an independent transitional government is formed to oversee early elections. The protesters' scepticism is rooted in experience: previous anti-corruption demonstrations in 2018 and 2019 led to cosmetic personnel changes but no structural reform.

EU pressure mounts on von der Leyen

The crisis has forced the European Union into an uncomfortable position. Serbia is an EU candidate country, formally on the enlargement track since 2012, and the Commission has consistently praised its reform progress in annual reports. But MEPs from the Socialists and Democrats, the Left, the Greens and Renew Europe wrote to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday urging her to reconsider a planned meeting with Vučić. They argue that the EU's silence on democratic backsliding, media capture, pressure on judges, the use of state resources for party campaigns, has emboldened the Serbian leadership.

"We ask why there are no EU flags on the protests, but we have not shown support for those asking for democracy, accountability and the rule of law," said Vladimir Prebilič, a Slovenian Green MEP. The letter calls for the EU to demand a transitional government of experts to organise free and fair elections, a step that would represent a sharp departure from the Commission's current approach of quiet engagement. Von der Leyen's office has not yet responded publicly.

The 30-day clock and the June option

Under the Serbian constitution, the president must give the parliamentary majority a chance to form a government after a resignation. If no cabinet wins a confidence vote within 30 days, the president dissolves parliament and calls elections. Vučić's Sunday statement made clear he intends to use that provision as leverage. By naming 8 June as the likely date, he signalled that he expects the SNS to either rally behind a new prime minister quickly or face the electorate.

An election in June would be a gamble. The SNS won 48% of the vote in the December 2023 parliamentary election, but that was before the Novi Sad disaster and the subsequent mobilisation. Opposition parties remain fragmented, and the protest movement has not coalesced into a single electoral vehicle. Yet the sheer scale of the demonstrations, and the participation of demographics that usually stay home, including students and pensioners, suggests the political landscape has shifted. Polling published by the independent agency CRTA in early March showed trust in the government at a historic low, with 62% of respondents saying the country is heading in the wrong direction.

China's role and the Belt and Road shadow

The railway project is the most visible symbol of Serbia's deepening economic ties with China. Since 2013, Chinese state banks have financed highways, bridges, a steel mill, a copper mine and the Belgrade-Budapest line, often with limited public tender and opaque terms. The Novi Sad station was a showcase: a €70 million renovation completed in July 2024, inaugurated with fanfare by both Vučić and Chinese officials. The collapse has raised uncomfortable questions not only for Belgrade but for Beijing, which has promoted its infrastructure exports as models of efficiency and safety.

Chinese embassy statements have expressed sorrow for the victims and pledged cooperation with Serbian investigators. But the contracts governing liability, insurance and technical standards remain classified. Opposition MPs have requested access under Serbia's freedom of information law; the government has refused, citing commercial confidentiality clauses. The episode has become a test case for whether Serbia's EU aspirations can coexist with a parallel integration into Chinese economic structures that operate outside European procurement and transparency rules.