Serbian Education Minister Resigns After School Shooting Tragedy

Four days after the shooting at a school in Belgrade, Serbia, the Minister of Education announced his resignation on Sunday.

Serbian Education Minister Branko Ružić resigned on Sunday, four days after a school shooting in which a 13-year-old boy murdered eight students and a security guard.

Branko Ruzic offered his condolences to the families of the victims of a “cataclysmic tragedy” that shocked the Balkan nation in an open letter to Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić.

“I submit my irrevocable resignation from the post of Minister of Education in the Government of the Republic of Serbia,” Branko Ružić wrote in a letter he shared on Twitter.

A resignation requested by the opposition

A prominent member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SDP), a ruling coalition partner, he blamed the internet, video games and “Western values” for the unprecedented killing in Serbia.

Opposition parties and human rights groups immediately after the tragedy called for his resignation.

Less than 48 hours after that shooting, Serbia was shocked by yet another killing spree when a 21-year-old man shot dead eight people near Belgrade with automatic weapons.

39% of residents have a weapon

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has promised to launch a full-scale disarmament plan.

In Serbia, 39% of residents own a firearm, the highest rate in Europe for civilian possession of weapons, according to the Small Arms Survey (SAS) research project.