a complaint with the Constitutional Court, requesting a review of the constitutionality of the special law. Offensive of the ruling party against the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime In addition to the potential political consequences of the Army General Staff contract, the case has also raised the issue of possible criminal responsibility on the part of the Minister of Culture and high-ranking member of the ruling party, Nikola Selaković. The clash between the ruling party and the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (TOK) over this matter reached dramatic proportions in November. In November 2024, the Government of Serbia adopted a decision removing the General Staff Buildings from the register of cultural properties. However, TOK subsequently charged three public officials responsible for cultural monuments with abuse of office, on suspicion of forging a document proposing the revocation of the buildings’ cultural heritage status. According to the suspects’ testimonies, it was Minister Selaković who pressured them into committing these acts. At the end of November 2025, media reported that Selaković, who was confirmed as a suspect in the case, refused to appear before TOK for questioning – a decision described as scandalous by legal commentators. After years of relative inactivity despite numerous reports of potential criminal wrongdoing by members of the ruling parties, TOK intensified its work in recent months. In August, it charged and ordered the arrest of two former SNS ministers for abuse of office and damaging the Serbian budget by at least 115 million US dollars in connection with the reconstruction of the Hungarian– Serbian railway line, part of which is the collapsed Novi Sad railway station. This case, together with the General Staff case, represents the most serious set of legal proceedings initiated against high-ranking members of the ruling party since 2012. The outcomes of these cases, however, remain uncertain, as the ruling party has recently floated the possibility of restructuring TOK and placing it under the authority of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, which is widely regarded as loyal to the SNS. The proposed legal changes have not yet been submitted to parliament. Meanwhile, pro-government media have intensified their campaign against TOK, with high-ranking public figures – including President Vučić – attacking the institution and alleging that it is part of a foreign plot against Serbia. In two separate public statements – highly unusual for the Serbian judiciary – TOK condemned these comments as an attack on its independence. Government delays actions on NIS as the danger to energy supply grows Petroleum Industry of Serbia(NIS) ended up on the United States’ sanctions list at the start of this year due to the Russian majority ownership stake in the company, which dates back to 2008. The sanctions came into effect at the start of October, forcing Serbia to start spending its oil reserves and have brought NIS’s oil refinery, which supplies the majority of the country’s market, on a verge of a shutdown. Russian owners of NIS have so far not sold their share in the company, while Serbian Government has not decided to nationalize the company. There are different interpretations for the behaviour of Serbia, which include unpopularity of being seen as breaking away from Russia, as well as Russian leverage in a form of a long-term gas supply contract with is yet to be negotiated. However, the urgency to solve the problem increases as the weeks pass by without an operational license for NIS, which prevents it from receiving supplies. Speculations about potential buyers of Russian share in NIS include Hungarian company MOL and ADNOC, a company from United Arab Emirates. As of 1 December, there has been no formal confirmation of an agreement to transfer the ownership. On 25 November, President Vučić announced he would give the Russian side 50 days to resolve the problem, after which Serbia will, according to him, initiate a management takeover of the company, with a generous compensation to Russia. On that day, he also asked for the United States to grant NIS an operating license until the deals relating to ownership have been finalized. As of 1 December, there has been no green light from the US. NIS headquarters in Belgrade. Photo- FoNet/ 021.rs. Tensions in Serbia Continues as the Government Struggles With Us Sanctions and Resorts to Violence in Local Elections 3