Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić raised questions regarding the recent arrest of 11 individuals, including former construction ministers Tomislav Momirović and Goran Vesić, linked to the roof collapse at the Novi Sad Railway Station. He expressed his confusion about how three signatories of a document could be arrested while the fourth, the primary signatory, has not even been questioned.

“Is it possible that he enjoys protection due to his connections with influential figures?” he questioned, as reported by N1.

Vučić accused the Prosecutor’s Office (for organized crime) of overstepping its boundaries by detaining Vesić and Momirović without valid justification and called this action scandalous.

“You have arrested three individuals on paper without addressing the fourth, whose signature served as the basis for the others. Can you explain this?” he challenged. “Or does socializing with him in public somehow eliminate his accountability? There seems to be something unusual happening,” Vučić stated following an urgent meeting of the Serbian National Security Council.

He mentioned plans to keep Vesić and Momirović in custody for nine months from the start of the arrests.

“They haven’t fled nor influenced any witnesses in this time. There is another dubious reason in our law—public disturbance. The public has not been disturbed for nine months; so why would it be now?” Vučić remarked.

He promised that “the time for accountability is approaching, regarding previous coup attempts and other issues.” He asserted that foreign influence has largely dictated who faces imprisonment.

Vučić referred to calls for state entities to act, noting that ‘everything has been coordinated with European officials.’ He suggested that more witnesses and criminal charges would emerge, and called for clarity on which Europeans influenced these arrests, asserting that actions should be based on law, not diplomatic approvals. “The narrative about needing new elections isn’t a belief in victory but rather a tactic to create a crisis and distract from thefts,” he noted.

Without naming whom he was referencing, he reiterated, “They seem to forget that I am not Milosevic.”

“For reasons unknown, Milosevic had a certain charm and cunning that I do not. I take a more cautious approach. I may not claim to be braver, but I fear no one—not them, nor their foreign associates. My silence isn’t due to ignorance; it’s a deliberate choice to shield our country from their recklessness, ensuring everything remains under control,” he concluded.

As part of the ongoing investigation into corruption linked to the Commercial Agreement and its annexes concerning the Novi Sad – Subotica railway construction, the Serbian Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime apprehended 11 individuals yesterday, including former Minister of Construction Tomislav Momirović and Goran Vesić, who is currently hospitalized. They face allegations of defrauding the state budget by $115 million.

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