Vucic Says All Student Demands Will Be Met Within Days

Brnabic, Vucic, Vucevic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Jan. 27 that all student demands would be met within the next few days at the latest -- from the release of the full documentation surrounding the reconstruction of the main railway station in Novi Sad in the state's possession to the pardon of activists arrested during protests.

Vucic told journalists at Serbia Palace that all documents related to the reconstruction of the railway station, where a concrete overhang collapse on Nov. 1, 2024 caused the deaths of 15 people, would be released in the days to come. He went on to say that an additional 925 documents had been published on Jan. 27, that the release of the remaining documents was still ongoing, but also that the state did not have certain documents because the work had not been completed.

About the students' second demand -- for the prosecution of attackers on students, teachers and other citizens at rallies and protests, he said 37 criminal reports had been filed in urgent procedure and were pending. He went on to say that there had been only one case in which the attacker was a public official and that it was "already addressed."

In their third demand, protesting students are asking for criminal reports filed against 13 activists and other citizens taking part in protests to be dropped. Vucic said he was prepared to pardon them if there was no other solution and that he would do so on Jan. 29 at the latest.

Speaking about the demand for a 20-percent increase in the budget for higher education, Vucic said the students had changed it to encompass a raise for teachers and a 50-percent cut to tuition, adding that the state had decided to meet this demand too. According to him, this will roughly cost the state a total of RSD72 billion.

Vucic said he demanded a "huge and as urgent as possible" rehaul of the Serbian cabinet, and that he expected more than half of current ministers to be replaced.

Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic called on all rectors, deans, professors and students of universities and colleges in Serbia to come to the Serbian government building for talks to discuss the student demands, which he claims have been met in full.

Serbian Speaker Ana Brnabic said at the same news conference that the agenda of a parliament session called for Jan. 29 would include a discussion of a no-confidence motion raised earlier by the opposition.