Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has said his country will hold early parliamentary elections on October 18 or 25, the first firm dates given since he promised in June to bring the vote forward.
Speaking in a live broadcast on state television RTS on August 20, he said the exact day would be settled within days. The election had not been due until December 2027.
The ballot would amount to a straight contest between the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and every other political force in the country, he said, according to Reuters.
Vučić announced on June 27, at an SNS rally in Belgrade, that he would resign within weeks and that early presidential and parliamentary elections would follow. He has still not said when he will step down, leaving the timing of the presidential vote unresolved.
Barred by the constitution from a third presidential term, he has signalled he would seek to return as prime minister, a post he held between 2014 and 2017. He proposed that his party contest the election under a list named United Serbia.
His second and final mandate as head of State was due to expire in mid-2027. He has dominated Serbian politics for 12 years as either president or prime minister.
The vote follows more than 18 months of student-led protests triggered by the collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad, northern Serbia, on November 1, 2024, in which 16 people died.
Protesters, opposition parties and rights groups have blamed corruption and weak oversight of publicly funded construction contracts for the disaster. The government has denied the accusations.
The demonstrations forced the resignation of then prime minister Miloš Vučević in January 2025. He had been mayor of Novi Sad until 2022 and now chairs the SNS.
Serbia has been an EU candidate since 2012 but its accession talks have made little progress, with the European Commission and MEPs pressing Belgrade over media freedom, electoral conditions and the rule of law.
Vučić has also refused to adopt the bloc’s sanctions against Russia, citing energy dependence and historical ties, while deepening infrastructure links with China.
Opposition figures have accused the SNS of electoral fraud, corruption and pressure on independent media, charges the party rejects. Student organisers have said they would put forward their own list once a date is fixed.
