Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced on Saturday that he would resign from office within weeks, raising expectations that he will seek to return as prime minister after a snap parliamentary election.
"I will only be president for a few more weeks, then I will resign," Vučić told a large rally of supporters in central Belgrade. He added that he had offered to "help" his ruling Serbian Progressive Party in the next election.
Vučić's second and final presidential term is due to expire at the end of May next year, and Serbia's constitution bars him from seeking a third term. The current parliament's mandate runs until February 2028.
But Vučić has repeatedly suggested that he would call a snap parliamentary election this year, though he has not yet named a specific date. Political observers expect Vučić to lead the SNS ticket. He served as prime minister from 2014 to 2017 before becoming president.
Although the presidency is largely ceremonial, Vučić has remained Serbia's dominant political figure, exercising decisive influence over major state affairs regardless of his formal office.
The government has faced mounting pressure from a powerful protest movement that emerged after the collapse of a railway station canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad in November 2024, which killed 16 people.
Critics have blamed corruption and government incompetence for the disaster and accused the judiciary, which they say is controlled by Vučić, of shielding those responsible from prosecution.
The movement grew out of student and faculty occupations of universities that lasted for nearly a year and has since expanded into a nationwide campaign demanding early elections.
Opinion polls suggest that a candidate list backed by the student movement could win the next parliamentary vote, although no such alliance has yet been formally established.
The protests have drawn large crowds. Last month, an independent monitoring group, the Public Assembly Archive, estimated that 180,000 people demonstrated in central Belgrade.
Saturday's pro-government rally also attracted a large turnout, with many participants arriving on buses organized by the SNS and businesses aligned with the ruling party.
