Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that the student protests are an attempt to destabilize Serbia.

Szijjarto told the Serbian state TV (RTS) that the protests and the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic are “an obvious attempt to destabilize Serbia”.

“This is not coming only from inside the country but also from abroad. I know the feeling because we had big protests many years ago following elections which turned out to have been financed by NGOs and foreign governments,” he said. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday that a lot of money was coming into the country to finance efforts to topple the authorities.

Serbian university students took over their colleges and started protests with demands for accountability over the deaths of 15 people in the collapse of a concrete awning at Novi Sad Railway Station on November 1.

Szijjarto said that Hungary has an interest in seeing Serbia remain stable. “If Serbia is stable that is good for the Hungarians living in it and for Hungary…. We trust President Vucic and the ruling coalition … and hope the attempt to destabilize Serbia won’t succeed,” he added.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his associates are viewed as allies of the Serbian authorities.