Vucic: If I See a Major Global Crisis on the Horizon, a Snap Election Won’t Be Held this Summer

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/PREDSEDNISTVO REPUBLIKE SRBIJE/Dimitrije Goll)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on April 7 said that if he saw a major global crisis on the horizon, a snap election would not be held this summer, but added that they could potentially be organized in that period, if he saw that a peace agreement would be reached.

“To make it crystal clear - the interests of the state and the citizens are paramount,” Vucic told reporters after consultations with some political parties about the potential date of extraordinary parliamentary elections and Serbia’s foreign policy course, in the Presidency building.

Vucic also said he was happy with the current course of consultations with some political parties, noting that on April 7, he had “a good and meaningful” meeting with representatives of the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia and the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina.

“My message after the consultations is that all of us must continue to work together, to be as united as possible because we are threatened by a major crisis from the outside, not from within the country. We are facing a very difficult time in Europe, and not only in terms of oil,” Vucic stressed.

He also said that the call for dialogue “is not a whim or a trick, but the essence of democracy,” adding that since the tragedy in Novi Sad, on Nov. 1, 2024, he had sent 154 public invitations for talks to political opponents, “considering that it is crucial to calm tensions, and to establish an atmosphere where the others will not be enemies but political competition.” 

Consultations at the Presidency building began on April 3, and have so far been attended by representatives of the Movement of Socialists, the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, the Justice and Reconciliation Party, We- The Voice of the People movement, the Party of United Pensioners, Farmers, and Proletarians of Serbia (PUPS), the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina, and the Social Democratic Party of Serbia. Several opposition parties have said they will not be meeting with the Serbian president, describing consultations as yet another manipulation by the authorities.