Djuro Macut receives parliament's confidence vote to become Serbia's new PM

- Macut tells parliament Serbia will continue to take confident steps toward European Union membership and that they will have 'an open and pressure-free dialogue' on Kosovo issue

Djuro Macut on Wednesday received a vote of confidence from the Serbian parliament to become the country's new prime minister.

The Serbian parliament was convened to elect the new prime minister and discuss the formation of the new Cabinet following the collapse of the previous government in the aftermath of students' protests over a deadly train station accident in Nov. 2024.

Macut, who holds a PhD and is an academic by profession, received 153 votes in parliament against 46 from the opposition.

President Aleksandar Vucic had tasked Macut to form the government, who, after getting a confidence vote in the parliament, introduced the new Cabinet of 30 members, including eight new faces.

In his speech to the parliament following the vote of confidence, Macut said Serbia will continue to take confident steps toward European Union (EU) membership and that they will have "an open and pressure-free dialogue" on the Kosovo issue.

Macut, referring to the ongoing student demonstrations following the fatal accident at Novi Sad train station, said, "I invite everyone to dialogue." Serbia is tired of divisions. My job will be to address the dissatisfactions."

On November 1, 2024, a concrete shed at Novi Sad's train station collapsed, killing 16 people. Later, thousands of university, college, and high school students organized large anti-government protests in various cities across the country, particularly in Belgrade.

The students demanded that those responsible for the fatal accident at the train station be punished, that all documents related to the station's construction and repair work, where negligence is suspected, be made public, and that students and academics detained in previous demonstrations be released.

President Vucic said that the students' demands had been met. However, students continue to organize demonstrations across the country, claiming that their demands have not been "fully" met.

After receiving a vote of confidence, Macut officially submitted the names of his cabinet members.

Sinisa Mali, minister of finance and first deputy prime minister; Ivica Dacic, minister of internal affairs and deputy prime minister; Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, minister of mining and energy; Zoran Gajic, minister of sports; Husein Memic, minister of tourism and youth; and Milan Krkobabic, minister for rural welfare, will retain their previous portfolios.

Milica Djurdjevic Stamenkovski moved from family welfare to labor and social affairs, Jelena Zaric Kovacevic from local government to family and demography, Nemanja Starovic from social affairs to minister for European integration, and Nikola Selakovic from labor to culture.

- Key new ministers

New ministers include Dragan Glamocic, minister of agriculture (replacing Aleksandar Martinovic); Sara Pavkov, minister of environment (replacing Irena Vujovic); Aleksandra Sofronijevic, minister of construction (replacing Goran Vesic); Jagoda Lazarevic, minister of trade (replacing Tomislav Momirovic); Nenad Vujic, minister of justice (replacing Maja Popovic); Snezana Paunovic, minister of local government (replacing Aleksandar Martinovic); Demo Berisa, minister for human and minority rights (replacing Tomislav Zigmanov); Dejan Vuk Stankovic, minister of education (replacing Slavica Djukic Dejanovic); Zlatibor Loncar, minister of health (replacing Danica Grujicic); Bela Balint, minister of science and innovation (replacing Jelena Begovic); Boris Bratina, minister of information technology (replacing Mihailo Jovanovic) and Darko Glisic, minister for investments (replacing Marko Blagojevic).

The ministers without portfolios are Novica Toncev, Djordje Milicevic, Usame Zukorlic, Nenad Popovic, and Tatjana Macura.

Macut's Cabinet is viewed as a balanced restructuring that retains core political allies while introducing new faces to key ministries.