BELGRADE, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Serbia will hold snap parliamentary elections on October 18 or 25, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday, more than a month after he pledged at his party rally to schedule them.
“The parliamentary elections will be held on October 18 or 25. The exact date will be known in the coming days,” Vucic said in a live TV broadcast.
The parliamentary elections in Serbia were originally set for December 2027.
“On one list there will be the (ruling) Serbian Progressive Party with its list, on the other all other political options,” he said.
On June 27, Vucic, a populist, said he would resign within weeks and the country would hold early parliamentary and presidential elections, following 18 months of anti-government protests. This is the first time he gave possible dates for the vote.
The announcement by Vucic, who has been in power as president or prime minister for 12 years, came after more than a year of anti-corruption demonstrations led by students triggered by the collapse of an awning at a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad in November 2024 in which 16 people died.
In the broadcast, Vucic did not say when he would resign to trigger an early presidential vote.
Analysts say Vucic may become a prime minister if his Serbian Progressive Party wins in parliamentary elections. That would continue a long trend in which the power in Serbia follows Vucic, regardless of his title.
Serbia is a candidate to join the EU, but Belgrade still has strong ties with Russia and China — a line Vucic has had to walk throughout his time in power.
Before joining the EU, Serbia must improve its rule of law, including conditions for free and fair elections, and root out corruption and organised crime. It also has to align its foreign policies with those of the bloc, the EU has said for years.
Opposition figures accused Vucic and his allies of violence against political opponents, rampant corruption, ties with organised crime and stifling media freedoms. Vucic and his allies deny these allegations.
(Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Mark Porter)
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