Serbia's PM moves to dissolve parliament, setting snap vote — SkimNews
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- Prime Minister Djuro Macut proposed dissolving parliament on Monday, telling ministers early elections are needed to ease societal tensions after months of protests and blockades.
- President Aleksandar Vucic announced plans to hold the vote on either October 18 or 25, nearly a year ahead of the December 2026 scheduled date.
- Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party nominated him on Saturday to run for prime minister, fueling speculation he will seek to swap the presidency for the PM role after 12 years leading Serbia.
- Student-led protesters have demanded early elections since the November 2024 railway station canopy collapse in Novi Sad that killed 16 people, accusing Vucic and his allies of corruption, ties to organized crime, and stifling media freedoms.
- Vucic faces fresh EU pressure after Serbia gave a hero's burial on Monday to convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, compounding a stalled EU accession bid while he maintains close ties with Russia and China.
Why it matters: Vucic, who has led Serbia for 12 years as president or prime minister, is using the student-led protest movement's own demand for early elections to consolidate power — and his party's Saturday nomination of him as PM candidate signals a potential constitutional power shift that could determine whether Serbia drifts further from the EU toward Russia and China.
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