Populist Serbian president resigning to run for prime minister in snap election

Embattled Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic resigned on Sunday in a well-telegraphed move as he seeks to transition to the role of prime minister as a way of staying close to power in the Balkan nation.

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Parliamentary Speaker Ana Brnabic, his ally, will take over the presidential role for an interim period. Serbia will hold presidential elections by the end of the year, Vucic said on public television.

Meanwhile, Serbs head to a snap election on Oct. 25 that seeks to resolve almost two years of anti-government protests that have evolved from an irritant to a threat for Vucic.

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Vowing to “be everywhere in Serbia” as he campaigns, Vucic is confident his Progressive Party will prevail and extend the grip on power it’s held since 2012, even as polls are mixed. Vucic’s plan to switch to the premier’s role echoes that of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stayed in power by spending a four-year stint as prime minister to dodge presidential term limits.

“All this time I have been one of you, from tomorrow also formally one of you,” Vucic told his supporters in Belgrade shortly before he signed his resignation.

He spoke with Putin on Saturday, informing the Russian leader about preparations for the election, the Kremlin said in a statement. Both sides stressed the need to block outside interference in the electoral process, according to Russia.

For Vucic’s plan to work, the Progressive Party needs to beat one of its strongest political adversaries ever: The Student List, which promises to undo the president’s total control over public institutions, including the judiciary and the media, while ensuring accessible housing and healthcare.

The student-led movement grew out of mass protests that started in 2024 after a canopy collapse at a newly refurbished railway station in Novi Sad killed 16 people, sparking public outrage amid accusations of corruption in the awarding of contracts and incompetence among the ruling elites.

In his address, Vucic listed higher education as an area of failure, adding that “some people have been irresponsible and turned universities into party headquarters.”

During Vucic’s more than nine years in office as president, Serbia has tried to keep alive its stalled bid to join the European Union while also maintaining friendly relations with Moscow and attracting outside investment.

He’s turned the landlocked nation of about 6.5 million people into a key gateway for China into Europe, plowing billions of dollars into Serbian industries from mining to humanoid robots.

“It was difficult to conduct our foreign policy,” he said. “Almost every meeting in Europe was torture, as every meeting started with question why I didn’t impose sanctions against Russia.”

Vucic said he had good conversations with Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Vucic, 56, has notably failed to mend ties with neighbouring Kosovo, a key requirement for proceeding toward EU membership.

“Whoever becomes president will have to guard peace and stability, guard our national interests and our people in Kosovo” and “resist calls that we give up Kosovo,” Vucic said.

Earlier, the president denied allegations of voter intimidation, ballot box tampering and other irregularities that opponents say have marred previous elections.

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