BELGRADE, Serbia — Populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has formally confirmed that snap general elections will take place in the Balkan nation between three and four months from now, repeating his public commitment to step down from the country’s presidency ahead of the scheduled vote. Vucic has not yet released a specific timeline for his departure or the election date, but told supporters at a major rally Saturday that the gathering was almost certainly his final public address as head of state, noting he would formally resign within the coming weeks.
Political analysts and regional observers widely interpret Vucic’s announcement as a calculated strategic political move. Currently serving his second consecutive presidential term, Vucic is constitutionally prohibited from seeking re-election to the post. The restructuring, analysts argue, would clear a path for him to shift into the role of prime minister — a position that holds the country’s formal executive power.
“Yes, it is logical that we will have elections soon, and when I say soon I mean the next three-four months,” Vucic stated publicly Monday. He stopped short of confirming a concrete plan to run for prime minister, saying a final decision on whether he will seek the premiership if his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) secures a parliamentary majority will come after the vote.
“Whatever I decide and whatever decision I make, it will be transparent, just like I have done by announcing my resignation,” Vucic said. The president added that his resignation could come at any point between July and September, stressing that his departure would not come as an unannounced shock to the public or Serbian political system. Per Serbian electoral law, once a sitting president resigns, a new presidential election must be held within 90 days of the vacancy taking effect. Regularly scheduled parliamentary and presidential elections were originally set to be held in 2025.
Vucic has faced sustained pressure from more than a year of mass public demonstrations across Serbia, a movement that erupted in response to the November 2024 collapse of a concrete canopy at Novi Sad’s main railway station that killed 15 people. A youth-led campaign demanding accountability for the disaster has posed the most significant challenge to Vucic’s decade-long hold on power since he took office, with protesters arguing the collapse was rooted in systemic corruption and negligence in public infrastructure contracting.
Before his election to the presidency in 2017, Vucic previously held the post of prime minister. Since his right-wing SNS party won control of government in 2012, Vucic has steadily centralized executive power, drawing repeated criticism from the European Union over documented democratic backsliding, including restrictive policies targeting independent media outlets. Security force responses to ongoing protests have also drawn international condemnation: hundreds of demonstrators have been detained, with both protesters and leading international human rights organizations accusing Serbian police of excessive use of force and arbitrary arrests of opposition activists.