According to Reuters, Serbian President Vucic stated on June 27 that he would step down from his presidency within several weeks, and Serbia will hold presidential and parliamentary elections ahead of schedule.
"I will only serve as President for a few weeks, and then I will resign." Wuchichi said at a pro-government rally in Belgrade, Serbia's capital.
He did not specify when he would resign, nor did he say when the parliament would be dissolved. However, he stated that he would help his party, the Serbian Progressive Party, win the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Vucic was elected president of Serbia in April 2017 and re-elected in May 2022. According to Serbian constitution, the presidential term is five years, with the possibility of re-election. Vucic's second and final presidential term was scheduled to end in mid-2027.
On June 27, 2026, local time, in Belgrade, Serbia, Serbian President Vucic waved the Serbian flag during a gathering. Visual China
According to reports, as Vucic announced his resignation, student-led protests were still ongoing. The protest movement was triggered by the collapse of a shelter at the Novi Sad train station in northern Serbia in November 2024, which resulted in 16 deaths.
Some analysts believe that this protest, the largest in Serbia since the resignation of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, played a role in Vucic’s announcement of resignation. Activists and opposition parties have stated that they hope to challenge Vucic and the Serbian Progressive Party in the elections.
But Bloomberg noted earlier this month that despite the protests within Serbia, the party led by Vučić still leads in polls with a support rate of at least 40%, far exceeding a movement led by university students who lack a clear leadership. No one in Serbian politics has yet stepped forward to challenge him directly, and the mainstream opposition remains fragmented.
Since 2012, the party led by Vucic has maintained a dominant position in elections.
Reuters believes that Vucic is unlikely to step down from the political stage. If his party wins the parliamentary elections, his resignation could pave the way for him to become prime minister. This will continue a long-standing trend in Serbia: regardless of the title, power will follow Vucic.
Analysts say that Vucic might appoint one of his allies as president. “This is not the end of Vucic,” said Radivoje Grujic, an analyst in Warsaw. “He has a plan, and this plan definitely does not mean that he will step down from politics—quite the opposite.”
In Serbia, the president is a ceremonial figurehead, while the prime minister is the head of the government. However, Vučić has considerable influence over his political party and government.
Vucic served as the Prime Minister of Serbia from April 2014 to May 2017. He has expressed the idea of serving as Prime Minister again. Recently, several of Vucic's senior allies have also publicly stated that he should do so.
In February of this year, Vucic said in an interview with Reuters that he wasn’t sure what he would do after his term ended, but he didn’t rule out returning to party politics or becoming the prime minister.
"I would like to minimize my involvement in politics, or even abstain from it completely. But in order to protect my political legacy, I might need some form of participation. We will wait and see." Wucheqi said.
Although Serbia is a candidate for EU membership, Belgrade maintains close relations with Russia and China. This has been a consistent policy during the tenure of Vučić as president.
"In terms of meeting EU standards, we will do our job," said Wojciechowski in an interview with Bloomberg earlier this month. "But during this period, we must also take care of ourselves. We can't wait forever." He further stated that protectionism would ultimately "kill Europe".
At a rally on June 27th, Vucic told his supporters that the students and anti-government protesters aimed to destroy the country, and accused them of colluding with foreign forces.
"This is our first thousand times reaching out to you. We forgive everything you've done, but we won't be naive; we will never forget what your country did for a year." Wuqi said.
