European Public Prosecutor’s Office: the Novi Sad station investigation is still ongoing, Kövesi’s office confirms

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has confirmed that the investigation into the possible misuse of funds in the project for the reconstruction of the railway and the railway station in Novi Sad is still ongoing. As BBC News Serbian writes, the written reply came from the office of Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi: “The investigation is ongoing and at this stage we cannot provide more information, so as not to jeopardise the ongoing proceedings and their outcome.”

According to Danas, the EPPO first announced in March last year that it was investigating possible abuses related to the reconstruction of the Novi Sad station. The investigation began on the basis of a complaint by a private individual, making it the first investigation with an international dimension into one of the gravest cases in Serbia’s recent history.

Today’s confirmation comes at an important moment, as prosecutor Laura Kövesi’s mandate is ending: from 1 November she is replaced by German prosecutor Andreas Ritter. The Novi Sad investigation, however, continues despite the change at the head of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy on 1 November 2024 killed 16 people and was the initial spark of the wave of anti-corruption protests across Serbia — protests that later led to the student movement and to early parliamentary elections.

In Serbia, three separate proceedings are under way in this case. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad has filed an indictment against former construction minister Goran Vesić, Jelena Tanasković, Anita Dimoski and ten others, while the start of the trial was postponed to September 2026. In parallel, the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime (TOK) is investigating the flows of money and possible corruption in the construction of the Belgrade–Subotica railway, but has not yet filed an indictment. Meanwhile, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade filed an indictment against three people for violations in the technical inspection and the use documentation, but that indictment was not confirmed.