Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic dissolved the country’s parliament on Wednesday and called early parliamentary elections for December 17, news agency EFE reported.
“We live in a time when it is imperative that we are all united in the struggle to protect Serbia’s vital national and state interests.”the Serbian head of state said, after officially announcing the call for elections, through a statement published by the Serbian news agency Tanjug.
Aleksandar Vucic had already brought forward the date of new parliamentary elections to the end of September, which will coincide with local elections in 65 municipalities across the country, including Belgrade.
The dissolution of the Serbian parliament came a day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Aleksandar Vucic and urged him to take concrete steps to normalize relations with Kosovo, a former Serbian province that Belgrade does not recognize.
In Wednesday’s statement, the head of state warned the population that his country will face “a lot of pressure” in the near future due to relations with Kosovo and other regional and global issues.
The European Union and the United States want Serbia and Kosovo to normalize their relations, within the framework of a dialogue led by Brussels and in which Belgrade approves sanctions against Russia.
The parliamentary elections will be brought forward by more than two years, because the regular term of the current parliament would end in the spring of 2026.
In the last elections, held in April 2022, Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) managed to be re-elected along with the presidential elections, despite significant losses.
The ‘pro-Western’ opposition formed a bloc to confront the SNS and the current Serbian president, who has been in power for more than a decade, whom they accuse of exercising autocratic control over institutions and the media.
Source: DN
