Vucic says he will resign within weeks, Serbia to hold early elections
Vucic said he will quit within weeks and force early votes, turning a protest crisis over Novi Sad into a test of his grip on power.
Aleksandar Vucic will resign within weeks and trigger early presidential and parliamentary elections, a move that could shorten a mandate due to run until mid-2027 and reset Serbia’s political calendar on his terms. Speaking at a pro-government rally in Belgrade on June 27, 2026, the Serbian president told supporters, “I will be president for only a couple of weeks, and then I will resign.”
The announcement came after about 18 months of sometimes violent anti-government protests led by students and other critics who have accused the authorities of corruption, mismanagement and repression. Vucic has been in power for 13 years, and his move is designed to turn a mounting challenge into an electoral test for the Serbian Progressive Party. He will help the party win both the presidential race and the parliamentary vote. He did not specify the exact day he would step down or when parliament would be dissolved, leaving the timing of any early election uncertain.
The protests began after the collapse of a railway station awning in Novi Sad in November 2024 killed 16 people and became a broader symbol of anger over public works, oversight and state accountability. In September 2025, a Serbian prosecutor indicted 13 people, including former construction, infrastructure and transport minister Goran Vesic, over the collapse. Thousands again rallied in Novi Sad in June 2026 demanding early elections.
The student movement has since spread well beyond campus politics into a nationwide network, organizing marches, rallies and cross-border trips to Strasbourg and Brussels. Savo Manojlovic, who heads the student opposition Move-Change Movement, accused Vucic of trying to preempt his inevitable fall, arguing that the student movement has more support than he does.
Serbia remains a European Union candidate country, and Brussels has pressed Belgrade to strengthen rule of law, guarantee free and fair elections, step up anti-corruption efforts and align foreign policy with the bloc, including sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
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