Serbia: Vučić's party colleague is to become the new head of government

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Soon to be head of government: the previous Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vučević

Photo: Marko Djurica / REUTERS

After the controversial parliamentary elections in Serbia, President Aleksandar Vučić is setting the course for a government under the renewed leadership of his national-conservative Progressive Party SNS. On Friday, Vučić commissioned SNS chief and former Defense Minister Milos Vučević to form a government. The SNS and allied forces won a clear majority in Vučić's early parliamentary elections on December 17th. 

In the course of the election, the opposition and international observers had criticized massive discrimination against parties critical of the government due to electoral fraud, one-sided media reporting and undue influence of Vučić. Last year there were repeated mass protests against the government. There were also violent clashes between demonstrators and police. Vučić was accused of an autocratic political style, favoritism and inadequate action against private gun ownership and organized crime.

The government rejected the criticism. She had thanked Russian intelligence for information about the Serbian opposition. However, last year, Vučićs handed over the head of the SNS to his confidant Vučević and called for new parliamentary elections. Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, also a long-time political companion of the president, resigned from her position and became speaker of parliament in mid-March. Vučić has been head of state since 2017. The SNS is seen as a pillar of his power, while the presidential office essentially includes representative tasks.

Relations with Russia and China

Vučić maintains close political and economic relations with Russia and China and has at the same time declared Serbia's accession to the EU to be his goal. It is expected that Serbia will continue on this course even after the election of the lawyer Vučević as Prime Minister. Given increasing international tensions, this is likely to become an increasingly challenging task. In the immediate vicinity there have also been repeated violence between the Serbian minority and the Albanian majority in Kosovo, whose independence Serbia does not recognize. This even sparked fears of war.

jpa/Reuters