Several Bosnia-Herzegovina mayors resign due to protests

Amid escalating protests over the past three days in Bosnia-Herzegovina, three mayors of the country have submitted their resignations as of February 8.

The mayors of three cities - Tuzla, Zenica and the capital Sarajevo - have resigned after a wave of social unrest turned violent and saw the largest demonstrations since the mid-1990s.

Fires caused by protesters burning down the local government building in the capital Sarajevo. (Source: AFP/VNA)

According to official figures released on February 8, during three days of protests that turned violent in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 348 people were injured, including 187 police officers and 161 civilians.

In other cities, many government offices were burned down.

The riotous actions of the protesters forced the police to use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them.

The strong measures taken by law enforcement agencies have been effective in preventing the events from getting worse, and the situation on February 8 in the cities where protests took place was assessed as quite quiet.

The Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency convened an emergency meeting and strongly urged all citizens to immediately stop the violence. The government also condemned the hooligan attacks and supported law enforcement agencies in restoring order and security.

Since February 5, protests have broken out in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which later turned violent, starting in Tuzla and continuing to spread to other cities to protest the increasingly dire economic situation of this Balkan country, where the unemployment rate is up to 27-44% and 1/5 of the total 3.8 million people currently live below the poverty line./.

According to VNA