Nobel-worthy Balkan protests trigger resignations of president and prime minister

Southeastern Europe continues to be a hotspot for mass protests sparked either by tragedies, such as the Tempi train crash in Greece or the collapse of the concrete roof of the Novi Sad railway station in Serbia, or by political disasters such as the Călin Georgescu’s success in the first round of Romania’s presidential election back in November 2024. Despite this grim pattern, these protests have reminded citizens across the region why they are one of democracy’s most powerful weapons. 

Disasters, a necessary wake-up call?

After four months of massive protests following the tragic collapse of a train station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s anti-corruption movement led to the resignation of Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević on 28 January. Over the last month, Serbian newspaper Danas highlighted taxi drivers, actors, public radio presenters and farmers among those showing solidarity with the students leading the protests, who have also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Prior to Vučević’s resignation, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, leader of the ruling right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), said that he “will not be happy until the last student enters the classroom”, as Danas reports. After all, the news outlet sarcastically asks, “who wants to be happy when teachers are carrying out an unsuccessful colour revolution, and children are waving in the streets?” 

A few days after the Serbian prime minister's resignation, the Serbian news media Beta quoted Vučić as saying that Serbia was being attacked from both outside and inside – hinting at an unproven foreign plot to depose him.

Greece follows Serbia’s example

The resignation of the Serbian PM made headlines around the world, with the Greek newspaper Efymerida ton Syntakton comparing the Novi Sad accident to the Tempi train crash that killed 57 people almost exactly two years ago. Coincidentally or not, a few days before Vučević’s resignation, hundreds of thousands of Greeks took to the streets across the country, demanding accountability for the Tempi disaster. Efsyn provided live coverage of the protests, with participants chanting slogans such as “I have no oxygen” and “No crime without punishment”.

Like Vučević, Greece’s centre-right prime minister Kyriákos Mitsotákis (New Democracy) was put under pressure. For example, doctors accused him of being responsible for the Tempi tragedy when the prime minister visited a hospital where a nurse whose daughter was burnt alive in the tragedy was also present. “You have blood on your hands”, Efsyn quoted the doctors as shouting at Mitsotákis. 

Romania’s president resigns amid rise of extremists

Klaus Iohannis (PNL, centre right) became the first Romanian president to resign in order to avoid being suspended by parliament. In his announcement, Iohannis insisted that he had not violated the Constitution by extending his expired mandate until the new president is elected in May 2025, following the cancelled elections last year. The outgoing president will leave office on 12 February. Iohannis decided to resign “to save Romania and Romanian citizens from [a political] crisis”, the former president announced, as quoted by Cristian Otopeanu in the Libertatea. Currently, the favourite to win the upcoming presidential elections is Călin Georgescu, who also won the first round of the cancelled elections.

A poll shared by Alexandra Coșlea and David Leonard Bularca for HotNews.ro shows that Georgescu would get 37% of the vote, followed by Bucharest’s mayor Nicușor Dan (independent) on 21% and the pro-EU coalition’s candidate Crin Antonescu amounting on 18%. No wonder Georgescu is still doing well, given that he has been very active over the past months. For example, with the help of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), Georgescu urged his supporters on 10 February to boycott big stores in favour of local producers and neighbourhood shops, accusing retailers of exploiting consumers and failing to pay taxes.

“Prices have exploded, salaries are low, Romanian producers are being humiliated, and foreign hypermarkets are making huge profits on our backs,” said AUR leader George Simion, as quoted by Oana Ababei in Adevărul. While the impact of the boycott in Romania is still unknown, Croatians organised a similar one on 24 January.

As Veronika Koprek and Dora Cimić report in the Croatian daily Jutarnji List, major shopping chains and hypermarkets reported a 50% drop in transactions compared to the previous Friday, indicating that the boycott has had some real impact. According to the Croatian news agency, citizens spent around €20 million less than before the boycott.

Georgescu and Dodon want parts of Ukraine

Like hyenas lurking around a wounded animal, presidential candidate Călin Georgescu and the leader of Moldova’s Party of Socialists, Igor Dodon, both have declared over the past month that they want a part of Ukraine. “Ukraine is a made-up state, it doesn’t exist”, Georgescu said in a recent interview, as quoted by Ștefan Borcea in Adevărul. The extremist candidate is 100% sure that Ukraine’s territory will be divided, pointing out that the Ukrainians lost the war and that he wants Greater Romania back.

Like Georgescu, the Russophile former president of Moldova Igor Dodon wants a slice of Ukraine. “Recently, some European politicians have been saying that ‘a part of Ukraine is ours, a part is yours’, that they are picking their lands. I want to urge them – you must not share what is not yours”, said Dodon as quoted in Moldovan investigative newspaper Ziarul de Gardă. Dodon suggested to the current liberal president, Maia Sandu, that any aid to Ukraine via Moldova should be banned until these conditions are met in the interest of Moldovans living in Ukraine.

Ultimately, while tragedies and political crises continue to test Southeastern Europe, they also provide a crucial wake-up call – one that can either lead to stronger democracies or deepen authoritarian tendencies, depending on how citizens and leaders respond.