Embattled Serbian president resigns, paving way for early elections

Key Points:

• Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić has resigned amid over a year of student-led protests and public discontent over government corruption allegations, with his presidency set to end before the scheduled 2025 expiration.
• The protests intensified after the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station roof in 2024, which killed 16 people and sparked widespread anger towards Vučić's Progressive Party, seen as responsible for poor governance and corruption.
• Vučić plans to run as his party's candidate for prime minister in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for late October, with presidential elections to follow within three months, meaning Serbians will vote twice before the end of the year.
• Parliamentary speaker Ana Brnabić will serve as interim president until the new president is elected, and Vučić has pardoned 49 individuals connected to recent unrest, including students and party loyalists.
• The upcoming elections will see Vučić's Progressive Party face opposition from the student-led anti-corruption movement Students Win and the pro-Western coalition European Serbia, amid Vučić's ongoing balancing act between EU aspirations and close ties with Russia and China.