Vucic resigns as Serbia’s president on Sunday, September 27, to run for prime minister in a snap parliamentary election on October 25. Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic, a close ally, will serve as acting president until a successor is chosen.
The step follows nearly two years of student-led protests that began after a concrete canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1, 2024, killing 16 people. The collapse was widely blamed on corruption, and the demonstrations that followed became some of Serbia’s largest since the fall of Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, at times drawing hundreds of thousands of people. Early elections were a central demand of that movement.
What happens after Vucic resigns
Vucic spoke from the presidential palace in Belgrade and said he would hand his duties to the speaker the next morning. Hundreds of supporters gathered outside, and he told the flag-waving crowd it was his last evening in the building. Under Serbia’s constitution and the law on the president, a president’s term ends when the National Assembly receives the written resignation. No vote is needed. Brnabic then holds presidential powers for up to three months and must call a presidential election within that period.
The presidential vote must be completed within 90 days, with a campaign lasting 30 to 60 days. Vucic said a first round would be held by the end of December. The resignation was not legally required. His second term would have run until May 2027, and the constitution bars him from a third. He said he wanted to compete “as an ordinary man.” Parliament was dissolved on September 9, and the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) had nominated him on September 5 to head its list and to be its candidate for prime minister.
Why the move matters
Vucic has dominated Serbian politics since 2014, first as prime minister and then as president from 2017, and was re-elected in 2022. In Serbia’s parliamentary system, the prime minister leads the government, which is formed after a parliamentary election. By leaving the presidency, he can head the SNS list and, if his party forms the next government, be appointed prime minister.
Brnabic, who has chaired the National Assembly since March 2024, previously served as prime minister from 2017 to 2024. Đuro Macut, prime minister since April 2025, leads the government that remains in office until a new one is formed. Minutes before resigning, Vucic pardoned 49 people. He said 23 of them were connected to the protests. The group reportedly included students and party loyalists suspected of offences during the unrest, as well as activists who left Serbia after being accused of anti-state activities.
Who is on the ballot
The SNS and its allies face Students Win, a student-led anti-corruption movement, and European Serbia, an alliance of pro-Western opposition parties. A few hours before resigning, Vucic said in an interview that if the opposition won, he would accept the result and congratulate his opponents that same evening.
Aida Corovic, a former member of parliament and human rights activist, said she feared the country’s crisis could deepen after the vote. She accused the government of taking over state institutions. No government response to her remarks was available at the time of writing.
What remains unresolved
No date for the presidential election has been announced. Because parliament is dissolved, its powers are limited. The process of forming a new government begins only after the October 25 vote, and the acting president consults representatives of the elected lists before a prime minister is proposed.
Serbia’s politics carry weight beyond its borders. Belgrade has close political, economic and cultural ties with Serbian communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo, so the outcome is being watched across the Western Balkans. Related HCN coverage: White House press ban blocked by federal judge
[…] Vučić’s resignation is meant to bring early elections forward. HCN covered it in our report on Vučić’s resignation and Serbia’s election. The contrast is useful: Serbia’s transition follows one man’s decision to leave, while […]