Usual Quarrels or Something More?

Ivica Dacic, Aleksandar Vucic, Belgrade, Sep.25 2023. (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The election campaign in Serbia has been marked by, among other things, tensions in the relationship between the two strongest parties in the country, the Serbian Progressive Party and the Socialist Party of Serbia, which have this time been considerably higher than in similar situations in the past. Late last week, Socialist party leader Ivica Dacic temporarily put an end to speculation about the Socialists’ possible switch to the opposition side, saying that he and the leader of the coalition gathered around the Progressive party, Aleksandar Vucic, had reached an agreement on continuing the cooperation that had been going on since the summer of 2012. Nonetheless, it is a verbal agreement made in principle, which either side could easily violate after the elections.