Serbia will definitely have early elections, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said, quoted by the media in the country. “We will definitely have elections before the constitutional and legal deadline“, Vučić said today during an event related to EXPO 2027 - the international exhibition that will be held from May 15 to August 15, 2027 in Belgrade, BTA reports.
“For six months they lied that they did not want elections, that they were not involved in politics, for six months they made false demands, and finally we realized that they were only interested in politics”, Vučić said of the protesters, adding that they had illegally blocked roads and prevented citizens from moving freely. "In the end, the protesters turned our faculties and universities into dens and pigsties", Vucic added regarding the months-long student blockades.
The Serbian president did not specify when he thought early elections would be held.
The last parliamentary elections in Serbia were held in December 2023. The National Assembly (parliament) has a 4-year mandate, and the competent state body for calling new elections for members of parliament is the president.
On November 1 last year, in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, the canopy of the railway station, which had been under renovation for 3 years, collapsed, killing 16 people. A wave of social discontent swept the country, and protest participants accused the government of corruption and nepotism, which led to poor-quality repairs to the facility. Because of the tragedy, students blocked over 60 faculties and led protests that became the biggest challenge in Aleksandar Vučić's political career.
In May of this year, students demanded early parliamentary elections and announced that they would support a list of candidates who have authority in society and have not yet participated in the political life of the country, but they themselves would not run.