Serbia could return to the polls, calling for the dissolution of Parliament: "A government…

The Serbian Prime Minister, Djuro Macut asked President Aleksandar Vucic to dissolve Parliament, paving the way for early legislative elections in October, long called for by the student-led protest movement that has shaken the country for almost two years. “I propose that the government of the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with the Constitution, ask the President of the Republic to dissolve the National Assembly,” Macut said during an extraordinary session of the government.

The next legislative elections were scheduled for December 2027, but Vucic had already mentioned at the end of August the possibility of bringing the vote forward to October. The expected date is now October 25th.

The crisis after the Novi Sad tragedy

Since November 2024, Serbia has been crossed by a vast protest movement, born after the fatal collapse of a shelter at the Novi Sad railway station, in the north of the country. Protesters consider the tragedy a consequence of corruption which, in their opinion, afflicts Serbia, a candidate country for membership of the European Union but at the same time a close ally of Moscow. The initial requests for a transparent investigation into the incident gradually transformed into the request for early elections, formally advanced by the students who have been leading the protest since May 2025.

Macut: “Public opinion calls for early elections”

“Serbia faced demonstrations, blockades, deep divisions, problems in education and strong pressure on institutions,” Macut said. And he added: “For some time a part of public opinion has been calling for early legislative elections”, underlining that “a responsible government never ignores such requests”. Vucic, in power as prime minister or president for over a decade, he now has 72 hours to accept the government’s proposal and dissolve the Assembly. The president had previously indicated that he would do so on September 9 or 10, the deadline needed to allow elections to take place in October. At the end of June, Vucic had also raised the possibility of resigning before the natural end of his presidential mandate, scheduled for April 2027, in order to be able to participate directly in the electoral campaign. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS, nationalist right) decided, during a meeting over the weekend, to ask Vucic to lead its electoral list and run for prime minister.