PM quits: what's going on in Serbia?
Under pressure after months of demonstrations, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević - considered a close confidant of strongman President Aleksandar Vučić - resigned on Tuesday. Europe's press looks back at the protests that started last November after a newly renovated concrete canopy collapsed at Novi Sad railway station, killing 15 people.
Pawn sacrifice will only fuel protests
For Večernji list one thing is clear:
“This whole performance with the prime minister's resignation is just one more attempt to save the Serbian president, whose regime has been shaken by student protests that have received widespread support. ... Although Vučević held the most powerful position in the country, that of prime minister, he is a completely irrelevant figure politically speaking, as irrelevant as the entire government he led. ... So this show will not appease the public but only bring more protesters onto the streets.”
West supports Vučić
Vreme sees the claims that the protests are being controlled from abroad as absurd:
“If that ever was the case, those times are long over. Today, Vučić is being courted by Washington, Berlin and Paris, praised as a 'stability factor' as he offers to hand over Kosovo, supply grenades for Ukraine, as well as lithium, lucrative tenders and billions in taxes for fighter jets. Democracy, institutions, freedom are treated as ephemeral in Serbia, as an obstacle to deals with Vučić. ... It has never made less sense to divide Vučić's critics into Russophiles and Europeans, Kosovo fanatics and Nato advocates, traditionalists and liberals. They're all in the same boat and they only have each other.”
A new level of dissatisfaction
The situation is noticeably different than before, Rzeczpospolita observes:
“The government had so far managed to contain the protests not only by arresting the leaders, but also by stepping up propaganda and denigrating the demonstrators. This time things are different, however, not only because of the scale of the social discontent but also because of the government's arrogance.”
Trial of strength continues
The situation is likely to remain turbulent in Serbia, writes the Tages-Anzeiger:
“Vučić has often been confronted with protests, which were sometimes violent. But he has always managed to save himself and his power. ... As an autocrat, the shrewd strategist Vučić positions and moves the functionaries of his party like pieces on a chessboard. At the same time he has shown himself willing to pardon students and other demonstrators who are being prosecuted by the Serbian judiciary. Will this appease the population? Hardly. The resignations come too late, and the anger will remain. ... On Tuesday there were no signs of the protests ending any time soon. ... The trial of strength in Serbia continues.”
It's all about the president
Prime Minister Vučević's resignation won't be enough to appease the protesters, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is convinced:
“Because they're demanding far more than just the naming of those responsible. They want fundamental change. ... Because the deadly accident and the reaction of President Aleksandar Vučić's government have become symbolic of the consequences of corruption and unchecked power. Discontent is the common denominator of the waves of protest that have swept Serbia in recent years, triggered by a wide variety of issues. They all come together in this movement. And because President Vučić has been at the centre of Serbian politics in recent years, ultimately it's all about him.”