BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday called an early parliamentary election for Oct. 25 after nearly two years of street protests that have rattled his rule.
He issued a decree dissolving the 250-member Parliament and paving the way for the vote. He said a snap election was necessary because of ongoing tensions and divisions in the Balkan country.
Vucic, who cannot run for another presidential term, has said he plans to run for prime minister instead.
“We have had … huge turbulences,” Vucic said in an address. “We need election results that will clearly show the will of the people and the direction where Serbia is going.”
The ballot will be held against the backdrop of heightened political tensions as ruling populists seek to hold on to power despite widespread popular discontent.
The street protests started after a train station tragedy on Nov. 1, 2024, killed 16 people in northern Serbia. The protesters demanded accountability for the concrete canopy collapse in the city of Novi Sad and an end to the corruption they blame for substandard renovation work.
Almost daily demonstrations, sometimes drawing hundreds of thousands of people, shook Vucic more than at any time since he came to power in 2012. Protesting students have demanded early parliamentary elections for over a year, but Vucic has apparently waited until he felt strong enough to run.
The president and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have been accused of curbing democratic freedoms and of ties to organized crime, which he has denied. Serbia’s bid to join the European Union has stalled under Vucic, who has maintained close ties with both Russia and China.
Vucic has faced additional EU pressure in the past week over the public homage to war criminal Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army commander, who was buried as a hero in Serbia on Monday despite his conviction for genocide by a U.N. court.
The student-backed election list for Parliament is expected to include university professors and experts. The movement has gained huge support among the 6.5 million voters in Serbia, many of them disillusioned by mainstream politicians.
Several right-wing and center-left opposition parties will also run.
As Vucic announced the election, the students' movement posted on social networks that “it is time for victory!”
Vucic has pushed hard against the protesters, sparking international concern over police violence and arbitrary detentions. He has accused the students and professors behind the protests of an intention to “destroy the state.” Hundreds of people have been detained or lost their jobs for supporting the protests.
Vucic reiterated on Wednesday that “it would be wrong to assume” that political tensions were the result of disagreements in Serbia alone. He said that “we have had unrest and clashes and a divided society with considerable interference of foreign powers.”
He did not specify which alleged foreign powers nor offer any evidence for his claims. He urged voters to make their choice in a “peaceful and dignified way.”
Student Filip Gajic said “people are optimistic — that is why I think that a change is possible.”
Belgrade resident Danica Ercedi said she expected Vucic to win, “and nothing else.”
Vucic has said he will resign the presidency in the coming weeks so he can join the campaign for the parliamentary vote. He cannot run for president again after serving two almost full terms. An early presidential election will be held separately.
Analysts say the so-called Students’ List presents a serious challenge to the ruling populists. Dejan Pavlovic, from Belgrade’s Faculty of Political Sciences, drew a comparison with an election this year in Hungary that swept from power another authoritarian, Viktor Orbán.
Pavlovic said a scenario might unfold “similar to (the) Hungarian one, where the challenger, without the media support, without the resources, still manages to provide (a) very persuasive win.” Pavlovic said Vucic “offers a lot, he promises a lot and presses voters.”
The populists have gradually taken over Serbia’s institutions and mainstream media after coming to power in 2012.
A local election in Serbia earlier this year was marred by violence, including against journalists, drawing international concern. Observers during a 2023 parliamentary vote also reported multiple irregularities that included media bias, group voting and misuse of public resources in favor of the ruling party.
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic waves a Serbian flag during a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norway bade its final farewell to Harald V on Wednesday as crowds lined the streets and foreign royals and leaders converged on Oslo for the funeral of the long-serving king, who was remembered as a popular monarch with a down-to-earth touch.
A 21-gun salute rang out over the Norwegian capital at the start of a funeral procession from the royal palace to Oslo Cathedral. Harald’s son, new King Haakon VIII, and other senior royals walked behind the coffin, draped with the red Norwegian royal standard. Harald’s widow, Queen Sonja, and Haakon’s wife, Queen Mette-Marit, followed in a car.
Norwegian officials and foreign dignitaries joined the solemn procession. They included the monarchs of Sweden, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco and Jordan.
Also present were the heir to the British throne, Prince William, and Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino, as well as political leaders from more than 20 countries, including Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
As the funeral service began, Norway came to a halt for a minute of silence.
Harald, who died on Aug. 28 aged 89, was Europe’s oldest monarch and had reigned for 35 years. He modernized the royal house but refused to follow in the footsteps of other aging monarchs who recently abdicated. His son immediately became king and last week took an oath of allegiance to Norway’s constitution in parliament.
The speaker of Norway's parliament, Masud Gharahkhani, said at the service that “King Harald was close to the people” and recalled that “he wasn’t afraid to meet people in his rubber boots.”
He remembered Harald saying in his 2008 New Year's address: “I wish we would stop using the term ‘the weakest in society.’ In reality, some of these people are among the strongest of us all.”
“He lived up to his motto: He gave his all for Norway,” Gharahkhani said.
Large crowds flocked to Oslo for the funeral, and thousands stood behind barriers on streets lined with national flags. The downtown area was closed to vehicles and electric scooters, and police had instructed people not to bring bicycles, umbrellas or sharp objects.
People tuned in from across the country. Scores of churches, libraries, cultural centers and city halls made big screens available for the public to watch the funeral, public broadcaster NRK reported.
Ahead of the funeral, Norwegians waited patiently to file past Harald's coffin in the chapel of the royal palace. The queue was seven hours long at one point over the weekend. Over 46,000 people visited the chapel during the week it lay in state.
The government says it was not an official holiday, but schools and workplaces could individually opt to let students and employees tune in for Wednesday's events. The government advised that “noisy events should be suspended while the funeral is ongoing.”
After the funeral, Harald's coffin will be taken in a procession to the palace chapel at Akershus Castle, where the late king's ancestors are buried. After a private ceremony for the Norwegian royals, who will be joined by some of the foreign guests and senior Norwegian officials, the coffin will be lowered into the crypt.
Norway’s monarchy traces its origins to King Harald Fairhair in the ninth century. When Norway regained its independence from Sweden in 1905, three-quarters of voters in a national plebiscite approved restoring the monarchy.
The Norwegian royal house has kinfolk in other European royal families. Harald and Haakon are related to both Britain’s King Charles III and Spain’s King Felipe VI: They’re all descendants of the U.K.'s Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 until her death in 1901.
Today, the throne's role is largely symbolic and power lies with the elected government and parliament, but the Norwegian royal family retains a role in promoting the wealthy Scandinavian nation around the world.
Norway's Prince Sverre Magnus, from 2nd left, King Haakon VIII, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Princess Märtha Louise walk behind the coffin of King Harald V during a procession from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Cornelius Poppe/Pool Photo via AP)
The funeral ceremony for King Harald V in Oslo Cathedral on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Lise Aserud/Pool Photo via AP)
The coffin carrying Norways King Harald V arrives in the procession for his funeral at Oslo Cathedral in Oslo, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A view of the funeral ceremony of King Harald V at Oslo Cathedral, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Norway's Queen Sonja and Queen Mette-Marit follow the procession carrying the coffin of King Harald V from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Håkon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Members of Norway’s royal family, from left, Prince Sverre Magnus, King Haakon VIII, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Princess Märtha Louise walk behind the coffin of King Harald V as it is carried from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Ole Berg-Rusten Name/NTB via AP, Pool)
The coffin of King Harald V is taken in procession from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Håkon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
The coffin of Norway’s King Harald V is carried from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral during a funeral procession in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Ole Berg-Rusten Name/NTB via AP, Pool)
The coffin of Norway’s King Harald V is carried from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral during a funeral procession in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Ole Berg-Rusten Name/NTB via AP, Pool)
Military personnel wait in front of Oslo Cathedral ahead of the procession for the funeral of Norway's King Harald V in Oslo, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The coffin of King Harald V is taken in procession from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Håkon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Sweden's King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia on board a bus at Oslo Airport as they arrive for King Harald V funeral, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Frederik Ringnes/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Soldiers march up Karl Johan before the coffin of King Harald V is carried from the Palace to Oslo Cathedral, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Members of the public wait behind a barrier along the route of the procession for the funeral of Norway's King Harald V near Oslo Cathedral in Oslo, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Police officers reflected in a window with a display showing Norway's late King Harald V prior to his funeral in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Norway's King Harald V's coffin is moved by King Harald's family and court staff from the Red Salon to the Palace Chapel in Oslo, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (Javad Parsa/Pool Photo via AP)
A painting of Norway's late King Harald stand in flora tributes at the Palace Square in Oslo, Norway, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is transported after arriving in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, one day ahead of King Harald V's funeral. (Frederik Ringnes/NTB Scanpix via AP)
