In an interview with Euronews on Monday 25 August, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić defended his handling of the protests that have plagued Serbia since the collapse of Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, killing 16 people (see EUROPE 13573/2).
Heavily criticised, particularly by the country’s youth who denounce the corruption, Aleksandar Vučić continues to assert that Serbia’s strategic priority remains EU membership (see EUROPE 13646/25) and that these demonstrations are having a detrimental effect on the country’s image and economic attractiveness.
This accession is viewed critically by a number of outside observers, including European ones, who constantly point out the closeness between the Serbian President and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin (see EUROPE 13639/28), and the latent authoritarianism of the ruling party (see EUROPE 13652/25).
In a press release published on Tuesday 26 August, the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament called on the EPP to “put urgent pressure on the Serbian President (whose SNS party is affiliated to the EPP) to put an end to police violence against peaceful demonstrators, the opposition and the media, and to allow free and fair elections to be held without delay”.
In his interview, Aleksandar Vučić rejected rumours of a constitutional change for a third term and assured that he will “leave the presidency” by mid-2027 to make way for a new government.
Asked about the talks he had with Vladimir Putin, he said that they were “open and sincere” and even said he was open to hosting peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Belgrade, if the opportunity arose. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)