Serbian President Vučić announces resignation, calls early elections after year-long protests

Resignation announcement

Speaking at a pro-government rally in Belgrade on Saturday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić declared that his time in office will end within weeks. "I will be president only for a few weeks, and then I will resign," Vučić told the crowd, thanking his coalition partners and describing the gathering as his last public rally. The move brings forward the end of a second and final term that would otherwise have run until mid-2027.

Vučić also promised to dissolve parliament and trigger early elections, both presidential and parliamentary. He said he will campaign for his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) under a unified list called United Serbia, expressing confidence that the party will defeat the opposition "more decisively than ever before." The SNS has dominated Serbian politics since 2012, with Vučić serving as prime minister from 2014 to 2017 and as head of state since May 2017.

“I will be president only for a few weeks, and then I will resign.”

Roots in tragedy

The political crisis traces back to 1 November 2024, when a concrete canopy collapsed at the recently renovated railway station in Novi Sad, killing 16 people. The disaster ignited public outrage over alleged corruption and mismanagement in major construction projects. Thousands of citizens joined street protests, blaming the government for systemic failures that led to the deaths. The transport minister Goran Vesić and trade minister Tomislav Momirović both stepped down under pressure, and authorities released parts of the renovation documents.

Protest movement and demands

Student-led demonstrations that began at the end of 2024 evolved into a sustained anti-corruption movement. By May 2025, protesters formalised a demand for early elections as a central goal. In late December 2025, organisers announced they had collected nearly 400,000 signatures on a petition calling for a snap vote. Regular parliamentary elections are not due until November 2027. Vučić had earlier estimated that early elections might take place between October and December 2026, though Saturday's speech left the precise timing unclear.

Pardons and political framing

Vučić said his final weeks in office will be used for issuing pardons, promising to grant clemency to people on both sides of the political divide. "We are all one family," he said. The rally, held under the banner "Serbia – one family" on the eve of the Vidovdan holiday, featured a 500-metre-long Serbian flag, mock ballot boxes on policy issues, and an installation titled the "Blockade of Serbia" that the government used to portray student protesters as violent.

What comes next

Vučić did not specify the date he will step down or when parliament will be dissolved, a necessary step for early elections. He repeated that Serbia will maintain its "traditional alliances" with Russia and China. Opposition parties and student activists have declared their intention to challenge Vučić's camp at the polls, framing the election as a referendum on the ruling party's record on corruption and governance.