Serbia will hold early elections on December 17, less than two years after the victory of the Serbian Progressive Party in the last elections, the president of this Balkan country said on Wednesday.
Alongside the parliamentary elections, Serbian citizens will vote in 65 municipalities, including the capital Belgrade.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the dissolution of Parliament live.
“We are living in difficult times for the whole world, a time of global challenges, wars and conflicts where it is necessary for all of us to be united to preserve the vital national and state interests of the Republic of Serbia,” he said. he declares.
In September, several Serbian opposition parties formally requested the vote, after the coalition government failed to accept the demands of mass protests that erupted after back-to-back shootings in May that killed 18 people, half of them were children.
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The accused protest organizers accused the ruling party and pro-government media of maintaining a culture of violence.
Several pro-European parties released a signed statement calling for elections.
“Serbia is going through a deep political and social crisis,” they said.
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“The demands of those who have been protesting for months have been ignored. We need responsible politicians who will solve the problems instead of ignoring them.”
In the last elections in April 2022, the Progressive Conservative Party, in power since 2012, and its coalition partners won 120 of the 250 seats in Parliament.
Vucic, a former hardline nationalist turned pro-Western leader, was also elected to a second presidential term.
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Serbia’s main opposition parties boycotted the 2020 elections and described the process as neither free nor fair.
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