Vucic resigns as Serbia president to lead election campaign

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Sunday he was resigning to lead his Serbian Progressive Party’s campaign for prime minister in a snap parliamentary election scheduled for October 25. The vote follows nearly two years of student-led protests demanding an early election and accountability over a deadly railway-station collapse. Vucic announced his resignation in a speech at the presidential palace in Belgrade. He said he would hand over his duties to Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic, who becomes acting president. The sources report that his second term would otherwise end in May 2027 and that Serbia’s constitution bars him from seeking a third term. He was first elected president in 2017 and won re-election in 2022. The October ballot is expected to pit the governing party against a student-backed movement that emerged from protests over the November 2024 collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station. The collapse killed 16 people. Students initially called for accountability and a transparent investigation; their movement broadened to include demands for action against corruption and an early election. The election’s outcome remains unknown.