Months of anti-corruption protests are having an impact in Serbia. President Vučić announces his resignation – and announces early elections.
June 27, 2026, 8:18 p.mJune 27, 2026, 8:18 p.m
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced on Saturday that he would step down in a few weeks and that early presidential and parliamentary elections would be held. “I will only be president for a few more weeks and then I will resign,” Vučić said at a pro-government rally in the capital Belgrade. He also announced that he would support his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in the elections. He did not give an exact date for his resignation or the dissolution of parliament. Normally, Vučić’s second and final term would have ended in mid-2027. The next parliamentary elections were originally scheduled for the same year.
Aleksandar VučićImage: keystone
The announcement followed a year and a half of student-led anti-corruption protests. The trigger was the collapse of a canopy at a train station in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad in 2024, which killed 16 people. A few days ago, students in Novi Sad remembered the victims and called for new elections. Demonstrators, opposition activists and human rights groups see the accident as a sign of government corruption and mismanagement of construction projects. Student movement activists said they wanted to run against Vučić and the SNS in the upcoming elections.
Sources used:
- Reuters news agency