Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic declares victory in local elections

Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vucic, declared the victory of his Serbian Progressive Party in local elections.

“In (the capital) Belgrade, our list will have 52%, which is an incredible victory, it is an incredible victory in Novi Sad,” said Vucic.

The elections were called again because no list won a majority to form a government in Belgrade after a vote in December.

Serbia on Sunday held local elections for councilors of the Belgrade City Council and local authorities in 14 cities, 51 municipalities, and 23 urban municipalities.

An earlier round did not produce a clear winner and led to opposition protests over what many critics saw as illegal election interference in the December elections.

The opposition Serbia Against Violence (SPN) and the National Democratic Alternative (NADA) accused the ruling coalition, led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), of election theft.

Authorities have repeatedly denied that there were serious electoral irregularities.

A total of 14 coalitions participated in the elections for the Belgrade City Council, as many as for the Novi Sad council, and in the city of Nis, there were 11 coalitions.

The election commission will publish an overall report on the election results within 96 hours of the polling stations’ closing.

Vucic’s victory could escalate tensions in Balkans

The political victory of Vucic, the Serbian nationalist leader of the Belgrade government who espouses the ideal of a ‘Greater Serbia,’ is expected to escalate Serbia’s tensions with Kosovo.

It is also expected to strengthen the separatist tendencies of Bosnian Serbs.

On the other hand, despite being an EU candidate country, Serbia’s relations with Russia exacerbate the rivalry between the West and Russia in the Balkans.

This leads global actors to increase regional tensions.