Opposition Party Calls for Belgrade Mayor's Resignation over Illegal Construction  

Belgrade Assembly, August 18 2022 (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The opposition Democratic Party on Oct. 14 called on Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic to file an irrevocable resignation because of "arrogant behavior and turning city institutions into a service of Serbian Progressive Party officials to the detriment of Belgrade's citizens."

The party said in a release that upon taking office as mayor, Sapic had announced the removal of illegally built structures even though "all Belgraders know that the mayor is one of those 'investors' who are building illegally."

Director of the Center for Local Self-Government NGO Nikola Jovanovic said that a snap city election in Belgrade was "inevitable" if media allegations that a building owned by Mayor Aleksandar Sapic had been unlawfully legalized proved to be true. Jovanovic told N1 TV that the Belgrade mayor "is the last person who should have anything to do with illegal construction."

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) reported on Oct. 13 that Belgrade's municipality of Novi Beograd had unlawfully legalized the illegally expanded structure owned by Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic in the Bezanijska Kosa quarter, despite the fact that legal requirements had not been met. According to the website, in late July, just over a month after he became mayor, Sapic received a decision by the municipal administration legalizing the building in Bezanijska Kosa, an apartment with seven rooms spanning 340 square meters.