Serbia elects new government

2025-04-16 18:56:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Serbia elected the country's new government on Wednesday, which will be led by new Prime Minister Gjuro Macut and will have 30 ministers, 10 of whom are new names.

153 MPs voted for the election of the new Government, while 46 MPs voted against it in a session of the Serbian Parliament on Wednesday.

In his speech, Macut said that Serbia is "tired" of divisions and protests, and that work must be done "to harmonize society, because harmony can be built through dialogue, tolerance, work and building a system of values."

He said his first goal will be the normal functioning of schools and faculties, whose work has been blocked for months due to student-led protests.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? has congratulated citizens on the election of the new Government, while calling on the new Prime Minister Macu and members of his cabinet to "liberate the country from terror and return it to the path of success."

Meanwhile, Demo Berisha - the president of the Association of Albanians in Serbia - was appointed Minister for Human and Minority Rights.

Previously, the sole representative of Albanians in the Serbian Parliament, Shaip Kamberi, had spoken out against his appointment.

"This appointment is not only politically unacceptable, but also morally shameful. Because Demo Berisha is not a representative of human rights, but a symbol of the denial of the national and political identity of the Albanians of Kosovo and the Presevo Valley," Kamberi said on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

Berisha is a member of the Serbian Army. Since 2023, he has been employed by the Serbian Ministry for Human and Minority Rights in the position of advisor.

Kamberi stressed that Berisha "does not represent Albanians, but a version of him instrumentalized for Serbian political interests, like some others at the time of (President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan) Milosevic."

Serbia's current government has been in a technical mandate since March 19, when MPs in the Parliament verified the resignation of Miloš Vu?evi? from the post of Prime Minister, which marked the beginning of the 30-day deadline for the election of a new Government.

Vu?evi? resigned after a group of students were beaten by activists of the Serbian Progressive Party who were blocking the work of faculties in Novi Sad.

The fall of the Serbian government, led by Miloš Vu?evi?, occurred at the height of anti-government protests, led by students who have been blocking dozens of faculties across Serbia since late November 2024.

At the center of their demands, addressed to Serbian institutions, is the determination of legal and political responsibility for the deaths of 16 people in the collapse of the concrete shelter at the Novi Sad Railway Station on November 1 last year./ REL