Vučić launched a campaign to become prime minister ahead of Serbia’s October 25 election.
Why it matters: The move could preserve Vučić’s control over Serbia’s government after his resignation as president. It also puts the country’s balancing act between the EU, Russia and China under renewed scrutiny.
- Vučić launched the de facto campaign at a Serbian Progressive Party rally in Belgrade on October 3.
- He resigned as president on September 27, ending a second term that would have run through May 2027.
- If the Serbian Progressive Party wins a parliamentary majority, the National Assembly is expected to elect Vučić prime minister.
- A student-led movement is running a Student List after nearly two years of protests over the 2024 Novi Sad railway-station collapse.
Vučić is seeking to transfer his political power from Serbia’s presidency to the premiership. He campaigned at a Serbian Progressive Party rally in Belgrade on October 3, telling supporters he expected a “comprehensive” victory in the October 25 parliamentary election.
Serbia’s prime minister is elected by the National Assembly, not directly by voters. Vučić is constitutionally barred from seeking a third presidential term and said he resigned on September 27 to lead the party into the election, cutting short a second term that otherwise would have ended in May 2027. Parliament had been dissolved and the early vote scheduled in decrees signed on September 9, according to the Serbian government.
The vote is unfolding amid a student-led protest movement that created the Student List to challenge Vučić’s governing bloc. The protests began after a railway-station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, killing 16 people, according to AP.
The Student List reportedly includes professors, teachers, experts and other figures from across the political spectrum. Vučić has accused the movement of trying to bring Serbia to a halt and alleged, without providing evidence, that unspecified foreign agents support it.
Serbia is an EU candidate that maintains close relations with Russia and China. European institutions have cited stalled accession progress, democratic backsliding, corruption, media-freedom problems and unresolved electoral-reform issues, including in the European Commission’s 2025 rule-of-law report.
By the numbers
- October 25, 2026 - Serbia’s parliamentary election date
- 250 seats - size of Serbia’s National Assembly
- 16 deaths - toll from the November 2024 Novi Sad railway-station canopy collapse
Yes, but: The available sources do not provide transparent, methodologically independent polling or establish the Student List’s final candidates, coalition strategy or electoral prospects. Vučić’s allegation of foreign support for the student movement is also unverified.
What's next: Serbia will hold early parliamentary elections on October 25, 2026. The National Assembly will then determine whether Vučić can form a government and become prime minister.