Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic dissolved the country's parliament on November 1 -- less than halfway through its four-year mandate -- setting early general elections and several local votes for December 17.
In a short address, Vucic said he hoped the voting would be orderly, as "we are living in difficult times for the whole world, in a time of global challenges and in which it is necessary for everyone to be united in the fight to preserve national and state interests."
"The campaign is an opportunity to present in a civilized manner different ideas, programs, policies that should compete, but which will never threaten our vital state, people's and national interests," he said.
Vucic, who has faced mounting pressure since two mass shootings in May triggered angry protests and calls for the president and other leaders to resign, had until November 2 to call the elections for the 250-seat National Assembly in order to hold them in tandem with the local elections.
The local elections will be held in about 60 municipalities, including the capital, Belgrade.
After Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) refused to implement many of the demands of the opposition-led protests, the main pro-European opposition parties signed a pact to run together in the next elections under the name Serbia Against Violence.
The last elections, in April 2022, saw the SNS take the most votes, while the president himself comfortably won a new five-year term in a presidential election held at the same time.
However, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the voting was marred by the "absence" of a level playing field.
Throughout that campaign, Vucic's critics complained that the president had tightened his grip on power through his control of the media and government to such an extent that some public opinion surveys showed almost half of the country didn't believe the elections would be free or fair.
