Overview
- Aleksandar Vucic formally resigned on Sunday to head the Serbian Progressive Party’s list and run for prime minister in the snap parliamentary election on October 25.
- Parliament speaker Ana Brnabic becomes acting president and Serbian law requires a presidential election to be held within roughly 90 days after the resignation.
- Minutes before stepping down, Vucic used his presidential powers to pardon dozens of people, reported as 49 in some accounts and including 23 linked to protest cases, raising opposition concerns about fairness.
- The October ballot will pit Vucic’s SNS and its allies against the student-backed Students Win list and pro‑Western opposition blocs that grew from mass protests over the November 2024 Novi Sad station canopy collapse.
- Observers warn the change could deepen worries about institutional capture, affect Serbia’s stalled EU path, and risk post-election instability if institutions or the security services are used to tilt the outcome.