Resignation announcement at Belgrade rally
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Saturday that he will resign within weeks, telling thousands of supporters at a pro-government rally in downtown Belgrade that "I will be president for only a couple of weeks, and then I will resign." Vucic did not specify the exact date of his departure or when elections for parliament or a new president would be held. He told the crowd that this was probably the last time he would address them as Serbia's president.
Path to early elections
Vucic's resignation paves the way for early elections, a demand youth demonstrators have made for over a year. The president's second and last mandate was set to expire in mid-2027, but the early departure accelerates the timeline. Under Serbia's election law, Vucic cannot run again for president, making him ineligible for another term regardless of when elections occur.
Political calculation and party strategy
Vucic said he would help his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party win the coming elections, declaring "We will win more convincingly than ever before." Speculation surrounds whether Vucic intends to shift to the formally more powerful position of prime minister after leaving the presidency. His party has controlled the Serbian government for 14 years, and Vucic has dominated Serbian politics for over a decade.
Months of youth-led pressure
Tens of thousands of people have rallied across Serbia since November 2024, when a Novi Sad rail station disaster killed 16 people and sparked mass anger at the government. The European Union accused Serbia's police of excessive force and arbitrary arrests during the protests.
Vucic has repeatedly called protesters "foreign agents" and accused them of "fuelling divisions" and seeking to overthrow the government. Students plan to hold their own gathering on Sunday in Kraljevo, central Serbia, to promote national unity while renewing calls for early elections.
