Vucic Pursues Prime Minister Role as Serbia Prepares for October 25 Vote

Aleksandar Vucic, who has led Serbian politics for 14 years, is running for prime minister in an October 25 parliamentary vote that polls show is too close to call. Vucic resigned as president in late September to avoid seeking a third term; he held the prime minister's office from 2014 to 2017. His opponents are a student-led movement formed during protests that began after a Novi Sad railway station canopy collapsed on November 1, 2024, killing 16 people.

Vucic's Progressive Party campaign has been dogged by questions about voter data. RFE/RL's Balkan Service found about 500,000 registered voters listed without a complete address, with street names or house numbers missing from many records. The same review identified voters registered at social welfare centers and at residential buildings that cannot hold the number of people listed there. In 2023, international observers documented voter transportation from neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina and instances of intimidation.

On March 15, 2025, authorities allegedly used a sonic weapon against peaceful demonstrators, according to the source account. Police made arrests during earlier protests over corruption allegations tied to the railway project, a construction effort led by Chinese businesses. Following a student protest in June, Vucic announced his resignation and set the early election date.

Polling points to an evenly split electorate. Vladimir Bilcik, a former European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia, said the vote is the first in more than a decade with a genuinely uncertain outcome. The student movement has no formal leaders and its candidate list is largely nonpartisan, including university professors. Cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic heads the list, though the movement said his position does not guarantee him the premiership if they win.

Serbia's government says it has carried out all recommendations the OSCE made after criticizing the 2023 election. An interim OSCE report, released after the deployment of 300 observers to Serbia, contradicted that claim. Voter rolls in Bosnia and Kosovo show more eligible voters ahead of the vote, regions where ethnic Serbs back the Progressive Party. Four employees at Serbia-funded institutions in Kosovo told RFE/RL they faced pressure to vote for the ruling party.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee noted on October 21 reports of illegal monitoring of opposition members and attempts to undermine election observation missions. SHARE, a Serbian nonprofit, and University of Toronto researchers identified at least 16 cases of the Pegasus surveillance software used in 2026; the tool is illegal in Serbia. Opposition figures blame the authorities, and government officials deny targeting political rivals.

Vucic has pledged to keep Serbia's current foreign policy, including refusal to follow EU calls for sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. The student movement centers on fighting corruption but also opposes sanctions and backs Belgrade's refusal to recognize Kosovo's independence. No new EU accession chapter has opened since late 2021.

The election falls two days before the second anniversary of the Novi Sad collapse. Russia's Vladimir Putin has expressed support for Vucic ahead of the vote, and Republican Congressman Joe Wilson said Russia is deploying resources to monitor Serbian citizens and the student movement.