BELGRADE, January 28. /TASS/. Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic has announced that he is stepping down as chairman of the government.
"My decision to resign from the position of the chairman of the government of the Republic of Serbia is final. This morning, I had a long meeting with the republic’s President [Aleksandar Vucic], we discussed everything and he accepted my decision and agreed with my reasoning. I think this is how responsible elected officials serve the public," he said at a spontaneous press conference.
The prime minister noted that student protest rallies continue to be held in the country, orchestrated from abroad in hopes of precipitating a coup d’etat. "It’s clear to me now that this was a deliberate and well-orchestrated action, directed from outside Serbia. They hit us where it hurt the most - our children’s education - deliberately and treacherously, aiming to jeopardize Serbia as a state. And, certainly, everything that went on afterwards or during the same period: protests, blockades, arguments, conflicts on the streets, the blocking of crossroads, roads, highways, bridges, misunderstandings between people, endless verbal and sometimes, unfortunately, physical conflicts across Serbia. Despite repeated calls for calm, events have continued to escalate according to a dark and sinister plan," he noted.
"Certainly, I will continue in my role until a new chairman is elected. Currently, the entire government is on a technical mandate. With the resignation of the government’s chairman, the entire cabinet resigns, practically the entire government has stepped down. We will fulfill our obligations professionally and responsibly until a new government is elected or some new or different political decision is made," Vucevic concluded.
Earlier, amid continued student protest rallies, Vucic announced plans to reshuffle the cabinet replacing more than half of ministers.