When early parliamentary elections will be held may become clear after a series of talks that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is beginning today with parties and political actors.
Judging by the initial reactions, it is primarily coalition partners who will respond to the president’s call for dialogue. Analysts say this does not surprise them because, as they note, it is difficult among opponents of the current authorities “to find sufficiently experienced and capable personnel who know how to conduct such a dialogue.”
Yesterday, Vučić sent an invitation letter to parties for talks on two key issues:
- the calling of early parliamentary elections at the request of a section of the public, and
- the approach to the EU and Serbia’s conduct in complex international circumstances in terms of security and energy.
The first to attend the talks today at nine o’clock are representatives of the Movement of Socialists, followed by delegations from the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) and the Justice and Reconciliation Party (Stranka Pravde i Pomirenja).
The Movement of Socialists (Pokret Socijalista) announced yesterday, after a session of its Main Chapter, that it would propose: an urgent reshuffle of the Government of Serbia, the adoption of a law granting citizenship to all Serbs from the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and the calling of a binding referendum on the continuation of Serbia’s road to EU membership.
“Elections are not the solution”
The Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS) also announced that it would take part in the dialogue and stated that “elections without a minimum level of trust could become a new problem in the making.”
“Every political crisis leads in two directions, towards further radicalisation or its resolution through elections. Elections held in such a polarised, heated and tense atmosphere would not bring the much-needed normalisation in society. Elections without a minimum level of trust are not a solution, but a new problem in the making,” SDPS stated, among other things.
Opposition parties have already said they would not engage in dialogue
On the other hand, almost all opposition parties claim they will not participate in the consultations to which Vučić has invited them.
In ZLF, they believe that “this invitation does not come as a sincere desire to overcome problems and divisions in society.” As they say, one cannot “expect talks one day, and the next send punitive squads to storm universities, the Rectorate, or the premises of opposition parties.”
The Democratic Party also refused the consultations.
Pavle Grbović, president of PSG, said that his movement had not received any invitation to dialogue and assesses that “it is not serious to even talk about it, as it remains a non-existent topic.”
Zdravko Ponoš, president of SRCE, stated that “Andrićev Venac is not the place for dialogue between the government and the opposition.”
Miroslav Aleksić, leader of NPS, said that “the only place for dialogue is the Parliament of Serbia, which has clearly been abolished”, while Miloš Jovanović, president of Novi DSS, says that “the government has absolutely and irreversibly lost its legitimacy at the moment it began to physically confront its own people.”
“Difficult to find sufficiently experienced and capable personnel”
Predrag Lacmanović, programme director at Faktor Plus, is sceptical that a genuine dialogue will take place, although he welcomes the president’s initiative.
“I assume that some opposition parties might respond to the invitation, but that student organisations will likely maintain a course of challenging the legitimacy of the authorities. There may be responses in the form of some kind of ultimatum. I believe they will try to obstruct it, as their policy is based on obstruction rather than constructiveness. Because if you enter into constructive talks, certain individuals would have to reveal themselves. It is difficult to find sufficiently experienced and capable personnel who know how to conduct that dialogue,” Lacmanović adds.
(Blic, 03.04.2026)