Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday that he will resign in a few weeks and announced early presidential and parliamentary elections.
Vucic’s announcement came after a year and a half of student-led anti-corruption protests swept across the country after a tent collapsed at a train station in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people.
Days ago in the city of Novi Sad, students commemorated the deaths of 2024 and demanded early general elections.
“I will only be president for a few weeks and then I will resign,” Vucic told supporters at a pro-government rally in the capital Belgrade. Vucic’s second and final term expires in mid-2027.
Vucic also said he would help his Serbian Progressive Party win elections, including early parliamentary elections, originally set for 2027. He did not specify when he would resign or when he might dissolve parliament, a prerequisite for early parliamentary elections.
Protesters, opposition and human rights groups claim that the disaster at the railway station was the result of wider government mismanagement of construction projects and corruption. Activists from the student-led movement say they want to challenge Vučić and the SNS in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.
