Elections & Democracy
Serbia dissolves parliament for October 25 snap vote
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic dissolved parliament on Wednesday and called snap parliamentary elections for October 25, meeting a key demand of a long-running protest movement.
The parliamentary elections had not been due until December 2027. Vucic called the early vote after nearly two years of anti-government demonstrations.
"I am calling parliamentary elections for October 25," Vucic said in a nationally televised address. He said Serbia had seen major domestic political turbulence and needed election results that would clearly reflect the will of the people.
The protest movement began after the November 2024 collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people. The tragedy was widely blamed on entrenched corruption and helped fuel some of Serbia's largest demonstrations since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.
Initial demands for a transparent investigation grew into calls for snap elections. The movement, which emerged from student-led university blockades, has demanded early elections since May 2025 and is preparing its own electoral list.
Vucic and his allies have accused the students of seeking to stage what they call a foreign-funded revolution. Vucic repeated the accusation while calling the election, saying there were signs of foreign interference, unrest and a divided society.
Vucic, 56, has dominated Serbian politics for more than a decade as prime minister or president. He was elected president in 2017 and re-elected in 2022 for a five-year term.
He recently said he would resign after formally calling the election so he could campaign, signalling an ambition to return as prime minister. His right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party decided at a weekend meeting to ask him to head its electoral list and stand as its candidate for prime minister.
Update
Aleksandar Vucic announced the October 25 election in a nationally televised address.
Vucic said Serbia needed election results that clearly reflected the will of the people.
The protest movement is preparing its own electoral list.
Vucic repeated accusations that the student movement was linked to foreign interference.
The Serbian Progressive Party asked Vucic to head its electoral list and stand as its candidate for prime minister.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 September 2026 at 10:29:46 UTC.
Update
President Aleksandar Vucic signed a decree dissolving Serbia's parliament and formally calling snap parliamentary elections for October 25.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 September 2026 at 10:16:26 UTC.
Update
Aleksandar Vucic said he would sign a decree on Wednesday dissolving parliament and formally calling the October 25 vote.
Vucic said he believed Serbia would emerge from the crisis after the elections.
The protest movement appears to have lost momentum, but students have announced they will field their own list in the vote.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 September 2026 at 18:41:16 UTC.
Update
Serbia will hold snap parliamentary elections on October 25, the president said.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 September 2026 at 18:02:20 UTC.
Update
The snap election is now expected on October 25 after months of delay.
President Aleksandar Vucic has 72 hours to accept the proposal and dissolve parliament.
The student-led protest movement began after the November 1, 2024 Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse, which killed 16 people.
Vucic said in late June he would step down before his presidential term expires in April 2027 so he can participate in the campaign.
The Serbian Progressive Party decided to ask Vucic to head its electoral list and stand as its candidate for prime minister.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 September 2026 at 14:50:13 UTC.
Update
Prime Minister Djuro Macut said the government proposed asking President Aleksandar Vucic to dissolve the National Assembly and call parliamentary elections.
The move would pave the way for an October snap election.
Parliamentary elections had not been due until December 2027.
Vucic has said a vote would be called in late October after nearly two years of anti-government unrest.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 September 2026 at 14:26:38 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The source does not establish responsibility for the Novi Sad canopy collapse; it says the tragedy was widely blamed on entrenched corruption.
Source
AFP news report published on .