site.btaAleksandar Vucic Does Not Expect Unrest During October 25 Elections

Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who heads the list of the until recently ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), said he did not expect unrest to erupt during the October 25 elections or the following day, but believed there were signs of “hysteria” and “tricks,” Serbian media reported. 

“If there is unrest, it will be quickly quelled,” Vucic said in an interview with RT Balkan, a Russian television channel based in Belgrade, in response to a question about what he expected on election day and particularly the day after. 

Asked whether he expected uncontrollable expressions of social discontent, Vucic replied that he had “long since stopped being afraid of unrest.” 

He said the SNS would win the elections with an outright majority, which he estimated would translate into around 130 to 140 seats in parliament. 

According to Vucic, the “Student List,” the political list backed by protesting students, would receive between 36% and 40% of the vote. 

The October 25 elections were called by President Aleksandar Vucic before he resigned from office on September 27. He cut short his second and final presidential term, as permitted by law, by more than seven months and is now contesting the elections with his Serbian Progressive Party.

The vote comes after nearly two years of student protests that began following the collapse of the canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, which killed 16 people.