Thousands of protesters gathered in the Serbian city of Kraljevo on Sunday, a day after President Aleksandar Vucic said he would step down within weeks to make way for early parliamentary and presidential elections.
Although many protesters expressed satisfaction with Vucic’s resignation, they still expressed fear that he may not relinquish power.
Analysts say that Vucic may run for prime minister and install an ally in the presidency, in order to continue exercising absolute power. Vucic, who has been in power for 12 years, has been facing student-led protests for many months, which were sparked by the collapse in November of two years ago of the Novi Sad railway station shelter, where 16 people lost their lives.
The incident became a symbol of what many Serbs see as government mismanagement and corruption.
In Sunday’s protest, the participants gathered in the center of Kraljeva and held placards reading “Students are winning”. Thousands of them waved the Serbian flag. “This is not just a political war, but a war between good and evil,” said Jelena Danicic, a Serbian language professor.
The European Union, meanwhile, has condemned the use of force against peaceful protesters in Serbia and raised concerns about press freedom and the independence of the judiciary.
Before Serbia, a candidate country for EU membership, but which has close ties with Russia and China, becomes part of the European bloc, it must improve the rule of law, including guaranteeing the conditions for free and fair elections, the eradication of corruption and organized crime, while it must adapt its foreign policies to those of the EU and normalize relations with Kosovo.
