Embattled Serbian President Vucic Resigns After Two Years Of Anti-Corruption Protests, Pardons 49 Hours Before Quitting
Embattled Serbian President Vucic Resigns After Two Years Of Anti-Corruption Protests, Pardons 49 Hours Before Quitting
The resignation comes after more than 18 months of relentless protests that were first ignited by a devastating infrastructure disaster in the northern city of Novi Sad.
Serbia’s embattled populist President Aleksandar Vucic resigned on Sunday, ending a turbulent nine-year presidency that was rocked by nearly two years of massive, student-led anti-government protests and growing public fury over allegations of endemic corruption and deadly infrastructure negligence.
Vucic, who has dominated Serbian politics as either prime minister or president since 2014, signed his resignation letter on camera at the presidential palace before stepping out to address a crowd of supporters who had gathered outside carrying banners reading “Thank you” and hailing him as a “political genius”.
“This evening marks my last chance, the final time I am here in this beautiful building as president,” Vucic said in his address as quoted by RT International. “I have held the office of president longer than anyone else in Serbia’s history since the establishment of multi-party democracy. I am proud to have achieved this thanks to your votes and support”.
Vucic’s second term was originally set to run until May 2027, but the Serbian Constitution barred him from seeking a third term. His resignation triggers a constitutional requirement that a new presidential election be held within three months, meaning Serbs will go to the polls twice this year, first for the snap parliamentary election on October 25, and then for the presidential vote at least a month later.
The resignation comes after more than 18 months of relentless protests that were first ignited by a devastating infrastructure disaster in the northern city of Novi Sad.
On November 1, 2024, a newly renovated concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station collapsed, killing 16 people and injuring several others.
The tragedy became a symbol of what protesters described as entrenched corruption, with demonstrators accusing the authorities of negligence, misuse of public funds, and allowing Yugoslav-era infrastructure to deteriorate.
The disaster sparked the biggest protest movement in Serbia for a quarter of a century.
What began as student demands for transparency and accountability quickly morphed into a broader anti-government movement that drew hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets. At its peak, a March 2025 demonstration in Belgrade drew an estimated 300,000 people.
A series of resignations of officials, including Transport Minister Goran Vesic, who was later indicted along with 12 others over the collapse, failed to placate the protesters. Demonstrators believed the disaster reflected more than a decade of governance under Vucic’s Progressive Party, who had closely associated himself with the station’s renovation, which was supposed to be a symbol of Serbia’s progress.
The protests continued throughout the summer of 2026, escalating into unrest following accusations of police brutality. In May 2026, a massive anti-government rally in Belgrade’s Slavija Square descended into clashes, with groups of young assailants throwing flares, rocks, and bottles at riot police cordons.
The United Nations condemned the lack of legal action a year after the tragedy, stating there had been “no meaningful process to uncover the truth and seek justice for the tragedy that resulted in the deaths of 16 people”.
Vucic Pardons 49 In Final Act As President
Hours before his resignation, Vucic used his constitutional powers to pardon 49 people, including 23 students and party loyalists suspected of offences related to what he called the “terrible events we have gone through over the past year and a half,” according to Serbian public broadcaster RTS.
Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic, a close ally of Vucic and also a Progressive Party member, will assume the role of interim president until a new one is elected.
The upcoming parliamentary elections will pit Vucic’s right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) against a student-led, anti-corruption movement called “Students Win” and a coalition of pro-Western opposition parties known as “European Serbia”.
The student movement’s list of 250 candidates includes mostly university professors and professionals from a range of fields. Its platform calls for investigations into allegedly ill-gotten property, measures against corruption and political interference in public institutions, and greater transparency in the use of public funds.
Vucic has consistently denied allegations of government corruption and negligence, instead arguing that the unrest was incited by Brussels as part of a pressure campaign aimed at pushing Belgrade to align its foreign policy more closely with the European Union.
Belgrade-based editor and columnist Dejan Ilic told Al Jazeera that Vucic should not be credited with choosing to hold an early election.
“Vucic is not the only actor in this country. People have said that Serbia is in a bad state, they demanded elections and they forced elections,” Ilic said.
Aida Corovic, a former Serbian parliamentarian and human rights activist, warned that the political crisis may be far from over.
“I fear that the crisis in Serbia could only begin after the October 25 elections,” Corovic told Al Jazeera. “This government has taken over the institutions, it is deeply intertwined with organised crime and it will try every possible way to remain in power”.
Vucic, speaking to CNN just hours before his resignation, said that if the opposition won, he would acknowledge the results and congratulate his opponents that same evening.
The political crisis in Serbia is being closely watched across the Western Balkans. Belgrade maintains close political, economic, and cultural ties with Serbian communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo, giving developments in Belgrade significant influence beyond its borders.
Vucic’s resignation marks the end of an era for a leader who has been a fixture of Serbian politics for more than a decade, becoming prime minister in 2014 before being elected to his first term as president in 2017.
Whether his gamble to become prime minister through the October 25 parliamentary election will succeed — or whether the student-led movement will finally topple his grip on power — remains to be seen.
