Politics1 min read

From railway tragedy to gov’t change: Serbia’s two-year fight for justice

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The deadly November 2024 train station collapse killed 16 people and triggered years of unrest, university sit-ins, and escalating clashes with authorities. In addition to indicting former ministers for their roles in the tragedy, prosecutors launched a January 2025 financial fraud and money laundering probe into the renovation project. The political crisis intensified when Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned following an assault on student activists by governing party members. Driven by the expanding unrest, the Student List opposition movement successfully converted public grief and anger into an electoral triumph.

Key points

  • The Student List opposition movement successfully took power after channeling sustained p…: The Student List opposition movement successfully took power after channeling sustained public outrage over government negligence.
  • Independent prosecutors targeted high-ranking officials with charges ranging from crimina…: Independent prosecutors targeted high-ranking officials with charges ranging from criminal accountability to money laundering and financial fraud.
  • Attempts by the state to suppress escalating student protests ultimately failed to preven…: Attempts by the state to suppress escalating student protests ultimately failed to prevent the government from collapsing.

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A timeline of events since the deadly train station collapse in Novi Sad, which led to a change of government in Serbia.

Sunday marks two years since 16 people were killed when a train station canopy collapsed in the Serbian city of Novi Sad.

The accident prompted student-led protests which swiftly evolved into a wider political campaign that brought the Student List opposition movement to power last week.

Here is a timeline of events from the tragedy in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, to the elections that led to a change of government in Serbia.

November 1, 2024 – The collapse of a concrete canopy on the renovated Novi Sad railway station building kills 14 people at the scene, with three others taken to hospital in critical condition. Two of them later die of their injuries in November 2024 and March 2025, bringing the total number of victims to 16. The tragedy leads to public outrage, raising questions about the quality of the work, lack of transparency in the spending of public money and endemic corruption.

November 5, 2024…

Politics