Almost three weeks into the official campaigning period, citizens of Serbia are yet to see political billboards and frequent television and online ads. Even though only a month remains until the vote on 17 December, the campaign has been unusually low-key, experts point out. Even the ruling SNS has opted for small-scale events in the week from 13 to 19 November.
The topics that dominated this week were largely domestic, with the ruling SNS coalition and the opposition “Serbia Against Violence” remaining in their comfort zones – infrastructure projects and fight against corruption, respectively. Nationalist opposition was the only to tackle the issue of EU, proposing that Serbia should join BRICS instead.
The ruling parties: New football stadiums and old enemies
Having held three large rallies during the previous week, this week the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) organised a series of smaller gatherings. They were mostly attended by a couple of candidates on the SNS list and directed towards specific social groups – women, youth and senior citizens. A recurring theme of the ruling party’s campaign are also people who emigrated or were considering leaving Serbia and subsequently settled in the country due to better living standards.
The highlight of the week was the opening of the new football stadiums in the towns of Loznica and Zaječar, as a precursor to the opening of the new national stadium in Belgrade, announced for 2026. For the past several years, SNS has been promoting the planned construction of new football stadiums as one of its major achievements.
Aleksandar Vučić attended the opening of both stadiums on 18 and 19 November, and the members of the party started sharing a video compilation highlighting new stadiums built by SNS government contrasted by no new stadiums built by previous governments.
Issues of Kosovo and foreign policy were almost completely absent from the messages of SNS, which focused on domestic issues.
Junior coalition parter Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) held several gatherings and a larger rally in Novi Sad on 19 November as a part of the campaign for national parliament and Vojvodina provincial election.
In Novi Sad, SPS leader Dačić evoked the memories of the 1988 “anti-bureaucratic revolution” during which the allies of Slobodan Milošević took power in the province. He called himself a successor of those people and framed these elections as yet another fight against DOS, a coalition that toppled Milošević in 2000 and which is now, according to Dačić, represented by the pro-EU opposition.
“They are threatening us with the 6th of October, but there won’t even be the 5th of October”, Dačić said, referring to the date of the fall of Milošević. He once again stressed that Vučić as President and himself as Prime Minister would be the best solution for Serbia.
First larger campaign events organised by “Serbia Against Violence”: Fight against corruption and meeting the demands of the protests
Pro-European opposition coalition “Serbia against Violence” organized three campaign gatherings this week.
First, the campaign for local elections in the capital of Belgrade, began with a convention on 16 November where candidates for the city assembly were presented. Coalition’s candidate for mayor of Belgrade, Vladimir Obradović, said he was sure of the opposition’s victory in the elections in December. The speeches were dominated by economic and social topics – promises to improve public services and public transport – as well as the fight against corruption and violence.
With the convention in Niš, the third largest city in Serbia, the coalition “Serbia against violence” officially launched the pre-election campaign for the parliamentary elections. Just like in the case of SNS, the focus of the opposition coalition was on domestic issues and problems, and foreign policy topics were not covered.
One of the two leaders of the parliamentary list, Marinika Tepić, said that two key problems in Serbia were crime and corruption. Tepić pointed out that the first task of the opposition will be freeing of the judiciary and the prosecutor’s office and announced adoption of a Law on prevention of high-level corruption, which she brought with her to the rally, in case of winning the elections in December.
The issue that was also in focus was the fight against violence. Radomir Lazović, from the Green-Left Front, pointed out that after the elections, all demands of the “Serbia Against Violence” protests will be met, including the withdrawal of national broadcast licenses for televisions that promote violence, such as Pink and Happy.
Miroslav Aleksić, co-leader of the coalition electoral list, spoke about the importance of uniting the opposition, despite their mutual differences, adding that “people who decided to fight for Serbia, to save Serbia for the children who should stay in it, joined together.”
Nationalist opposition advocates for BRICS membership as an alternative to EU integration
The only parties to open the issue of Serbia’s EU integration process – in a negative light – were members of the “National Rally” coalition, composed by far-right parties Dveri and Zavetnici, which oppose Serbia’s EU accession process. Instead of EU membership, the coalition advocates for Serbia joining BRICS.
“Serbia has been entangled in EU integration labyrinths for 20 years, resulting in the loss of sovereignty and economic decline. It’s time to break free from Brussels’ isolation”, said Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, the president of Zavetnici, in a campaign video circulated on social media.
“National Rally” coalition believes that the door is open for Serbia within the organisation of countries that do not recognise the independence of Kosovo.
As expected, Kosovo also remains among the main topics for “National Rally coalition”. As part of the campaign, Đurđević Stamenkovski visited Berlin, where she met with Tino Chrupalla, a member of Bundestag and co-chairman of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
“AfD is the only political party in Germany openly supporting the withdrawal of independence for so-called Kosovo. Serbia seeks allies in Europe, Western interlocutors, and partners who understand and respect our most crucial national interests…We don’t need blackmail from Brussels…” Đurđević Stamenkovski wrote on X.
In an interview for Insajder TV, president of Zavetnici said she did not rule out the possibility of forming a coalition with Serbian Progressive Party after the elections, if President Vučić agrees to reject French-German plan (Brussels/Ohrid agreement) for Kosovo.
“We will say no to all sides who want to implement French-German plan, and we can say yes to everybody who accepts our policies”, she said.
