Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has publicly announced that on September 27, 2026, he will relinquish his powers as head of state. As he emphasized, immediately after his resignation he does not intend to leave politics, but will take an active part in the pre-election campaign that will unfold ahead of the snap parliamentary elections in October. The statement came against the backdrop of the fact that a week earlier Vučić had already confirmed the very fact of holding snap elections and named the possible voting dates.

Resignation and gratitude to citizens

Explaining his decision, Vučić stated that in the period after his resignation he will express his gratitude to the citizens of Serbia, and then invite the new representatives of power to a TV debate. “I will thank the citizens. I will invite everyone who comes to power to a TV debate. I have been the president of our country for a very long time. I could not have done it without our citizens. I served the citizens of Serbia faithfully, loyally, diligently and selflessly, I fought, and now I am leaving as an ordinary citizen,” the president said. Thus, he is effectively formalizing the transition from the role of the incumbent head of state to the status of a private individual, which he will then use for campaigning purposes.

Pre-election campaign plans

Vučić described in detail how he intends to run the campaign after his resignation. According to him, he has a truck and his own car, and he has also bought a camper, since he “will not be able to spend the night everywhere.” He stated that he will travel to the most remote villages and stay there late into the evening, noting that “there are still many villages — thousands and thousands of other villages that I have not yet been to.” The president also expressed his desire to visit every city, “to be in front of the shop, in front of the discotheque, to talk with people.”

Snap parliamentary elections

As a reminder, a week ago Vučić announced the holding of snap parliamentary elections in October. According to him, the voting date could be either October 18 or October 25. It was separately reported that the president is considering the possibility of running for the post of prime minister. Effectively, this means that his resignation from the presidency and the snap elections become for him a way to move to another key position in the country.

Contradictory data

There is a slight inconsistency in the chronology of the elections in Vučić's wording and in the retellings of his statements. On the one hand, the snap parliamentary elections are characterized as taking place “at the end of October,” while on the other hand the president himself named October 18 and October 25 as possible voting dates, with October 18 falling in the middle rather than the end of the month. Moreover, as of September 15, 2026, the September 27 resignation is a declared intention and has not yet been carried out, so confirming an actual change of power at this stage would be premature.

Political context

The announcement of the resignation and the campaign comes against the backdrop of other resonant statements by Vučić on foreign policy issues. Previously, he had emphasized that Serbia “has not taken Ukraine's side against Russia,” and commented on the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, stating that Serbia “has lost nothing” because of it. These remarks form the overall political backdrop against which Vučić is moving from his presidential mandate to the fight for a parliamentary majority and, possibly, for the post of prime minister.