by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
BELGRADE/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, facing protests over his perceived authoritarian style, says he does not intend to run in the next presidential election.
Vucic made the announcement on Wednesday after talks with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, following violent rallies against his rule in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
Officials said nearly 70 people were injured in the overnight protests, including 16 police officers. Several people were reportedly detained.
It was the latest in a series of rallies involving thousands after the canopy of the central railway station in the Serbian city of Novi Sad collapsed in November onto a busy pavement below, killing 16 people and severely injuring one more.
The station building was constructed in 1964 and was renovated from 2021 to mid-2024 with support from China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation, but protesters view it as another case of corruption.
“I am a political veteran; I can no longer run for president,” Vucic stressed.
He pledged to end his presidential career “in a year and a half” and insisted he had no plans to change the country’s Constitution to remain in power. In addition, he agreed to allow early elections for the Serbian parliament.
GREATER PROGRESS
The move comes amid mounting pressure on Vucic to allow more democratic reforms, as critics voice concerns over his perceived close ties with the leaderships of China and Russia.
Austrian Chancellor Stocker said in Belgrade that he would support reforms in Serbia, which seeks to join the European Union.
“The greater the progress, the greater the steps toward the European Union,” he told reporters after meeting Vucic.
Stocker noted that Serbia and Austria are connected by common history and people. “The Serb community in Austria includes more than 300,000 people; they are an important segment of our society, and it cannot be imagined without them. Accordingly, our economic relations are a strong foundation of partnership,” he said.
Austria is the third-largest investor in Serbia, with more than 800 companies providing around 25,000 jobs, the chancellor added.
Stocker emphasized that stability in the Western Balkans “is vital for Austria and the EU” and that it is essential to protect the region from “destabilization attempts.”
The Austrian chancellor visited Belgrade on Wednesday, August 13, and met Serbian Prime Minister Djuro Macut. Vucic is a close ally of both Putin and Hungary’s pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
A federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily allowed the Trump administration to continue collecting its 10% global tariff, pausing a lower-court ruling that found the import duties unlawful for three plaintiffs who had won relief last week. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a short-term administrative stay while it considers whether to keep the tariffs in place during the government’s appeal.
Saudi Arabia launched covert airstrikes inside Iran during the recent Middle East war, according to a Reuters exclusive citing two Western officials and two Iranian officials — a move that, if confirmed, would mark the first known Saudi military action carried out directly on Iranian soil. The reported strikes came in late March after the kingdom suffered Iranian attacks, including missile and drone strikes that exposed vulnerabilities in the U.S.-backed security umbrella protecting Gulf Arab states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that Russia had successfully test-fired its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile — nicknamed “Satan II” by NATO — declaring it the most powerful missile in the world and saying it would enter combat service by the end of 2026.
Hungary’s new government signaled Monday it will continue buying Russian energy despite European Union plans to phase out imports of Russian oil and natural gas, raising the prospect of an early confrontation with Brussels.
More than 100 new evangelical churches have reportedly opened and thousands of people have been baptized in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, church leaders say.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said an agreement between Iran and the United States may be the best path to ending Israeli military operations in Lebanon, while defiantly rejecting any outside demand that the Iranian-backed terrorist group disarm.
U.S. federal prosecutors announced criminal charges Tuesday against the operator of the cargo ship that struck and destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024, killing six construction workers.