BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia 's populist President Aleksandar Vucic said Saturday he will resign his post within weeks, paving the way for early elections following youth-led protests that shook his tight grip on power.
Vucic did not specify exactly when he would resign or when an election, either for Parliament or for a new president, could be held. He has said in the past that he could leave the post amid speculation that he would try to switch to the formally more powerful position of prime minister of the Balkan country.
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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic waves a Serbian flag during a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 27, 2026, where he announced that he will resign in the coming weeks. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Supporters of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attend a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic addresses a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic addresses a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 27, 2026, where he announced that he will resign in the coming weeks. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Vucic, who is currently serving his second term, cannot run again for president, according to Serbia's election law. Both regular presidential and parliamentary elections are due next year.
“I will be president for several weeks more and then I will submit my resignation,” Vucic told thousands of his supporters in downtown Belgrade. He said he will help his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party at upcoming elections.
“We will win more convincingly than ever before,” he said, telling the crowd that this was probably the last time he addresses them as Serbia's president.
University students behind more than a year of protests against Vucic's increasingly autocratic rule in Serbia have been demanding early parliamentary elections for over a year but Vucic so far has refrained from setting the date.
Vucic has gradually tightened his grip on power since his populist party took over the Serbian government 14 years ago. A train station accident in the country's north in November 2024 triggered monthslong mass protests demanding accountability for the tragedy that killed 16 people.
Vucic has pushed back hard against the protesters, and has also faced European Union criticism over Serbia's democratic backsliding, including a media clampdown. Hundreds of people have been detained and Serbia's police was accused of excessive force and arbitrary arrests.
Anti-government protesters have blamed the fall of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on alleged corruption-fueled negligence in big state infrastructure projects.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic waves a Serbian flag during a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 27, 2026, where he announced that he will resign in the coming weeks. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Supporters of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attend a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic addresses a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic addresses a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 27, 2026, where he announced that he will resign in the coming weeks. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
GENEVA (AP) — The Champions League's Cinderella club Bodø/Glimt is one game away from returning to the 36-team main draw being made Thursday alongside the wealthy giants of European soccer like title holder Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
With the final seven Champions League entries to be decided in playoffs this week, the Norwegian fishing town team holds a 3-1 lead hosting Dutch debutant NEC Nijmegen at its Arctic Circle home on Tuesday.
Norway could have two teams advance as domestic champion Viking hosts Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday with the teams tied at 2-2. The Croatian champion wasted an early two-goal lead in the first leg last Tuesday.
The Champions League draw ceremony starts at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) Thursday in Monaco, when the local team will be preparing to kick off about 10 minutes’ drive away in the Conference League playoffs.
Monaco defending a 3-2 first-leg lead over Gornik Zabrze is among 36 playoff second legs this week in the second-tier Europa League and third-tier Conference League to finalize lineups for those draws being made Friday.
After winning games against Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan in last season’s Champions League, Bodø/Glimt started this time in qualifying needing to advance through two rounds in August.
Glimt has scored three goals in each of its three games so far, first eliminating Union Saint-Gilloise 6-5 on aggregate score. Almost its entire squad was retained with just one big-money exit, selling Denmark forward Kasper Høgh to Celtic for a reported 11 million pounds ($15 million).
Høgh and Celtic also are in action Tuesday, taking a 3-0 first-leg lead to Austria against LASK.
Israel’s champion Hapoel Beer-Sheva has a 2-1 lead going to Azerbaijan to face Sabah, a club which was created just nine years ago.
Lyon, now owned by U.S. investor Michele Kang, hosts Fenerbahce on Wednesday tied at 1-1.
Pot 1: Paris Saint-Germain (France), Bayern Munich (Germany), Real Madrid (Spain), Liverpool (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Manchester City (England), Arsenal (England), Barcelona (Spain), Atletico Madrid (Spain).
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Roma (Italy), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Aston Villa (England), Porto (Portugal), Manchester United (England), Club Brugge (Belgium), Real Betis (Spain), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands).
Pot 3: Feyenoord (Netherlands), Lille (France), Napoli (Italy), Leipzig (Germany), Villarreal (Spain), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Galatasaray (Turkey) — possibly Slavia Prague (Czech Republic).
Pot 4: Stuttgart (Germany), Como (Italy), Lens (France). Seven playoff winners are yet to be decided.
The draw sees UEFA's software program allocate eight opponents to each team, with two coming from each seeding pot.
The first round of games is played over three evenings from Sept. 8-10 — the only games before the new and expanded four-game international break for national teams that starts Sept. 24.
The Champions League resumes Oct. 13 with the second round. The sixth round is played Dec. 8-9 before a break until January. The eighth and final round with all 36 teams playing simultaneously is Jan. 27.
The Europa League has a stronger look than last season with AC Milan, Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen waiting in the draw Friday for the eight-round league phase.
So too are a curious group from England — Conference League title holder Crystal Palace, European debutant Bournemouth and Sunderland, which last played in a UEFA competition 53 years ago.
The prize for lifting the trophy next May in Frankfurt, Germany, is a ticket to the Champions League.
Second legs in the qualifying playoffs are on Thursday with some played during the Champions League draw.
Those games include Mo Salah’s Trabzonspor trailing 1-0 before going to Hungary to face Ferencvaros, plus former European Cup winners Benfica and Red Star Belgrade.
It has been a tough season for some of the feelgood story domestic title holders who were already eliminated in Champions League qualifying rounds.
Swiss champion Thun — edged out of Champions League qualifying by Dinamo Zagreb — lost 7-0 at Lech Poznan in the first leg of its Europa League playoff. Sweden’s Mjällby goes to Salzburg on Thursday after a 1-0 loss at home.
All losers in Europa League playoffs get places in the Conference League main phase played over just six rounds until December.
The Conference League also has teams that identify as Champions League regulars: Ajax, Atalanta, Monaco.
Freiburg drops down a level after being the Europa League beaten finalist in May while Brighton aims to make it three straight English winners after Chelsea and its main rival Palace.
No one gets a free pass into the six-round league stage and all must navigate the playoffs round this week.
Atalanta, the 2024 Europa League winner, looks most at risk after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at home to Hapoel Tel-Aviv. The return is in neutral Hungary.
Andorra shapes to have a first-ever team in a main phase, with Inter Escaldes hosting Drita of Kosovo tied at 2-2. Larne of Northern Ireland takes a 2-0 lead into its home leg against Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
Trabzonspor's Mohamed Salah in action during the Turkish Super Lig soccer match between Kasimpasa and Trabzonspor in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Celtic's Camilo Duran celebrates after scoring their side's second goal during the Champions League play-off first leg match between Celtic and LASK in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
FILE - PSG's head coach Luis Enrique celebrates after the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. AP Photo/Armin Durgut, File)
