The British Telegraph writes that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has for years presented himself as a “master of geopolitical balancing,” managing to maintain close relations with Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Donald Trump and the European Union at the same time. However, the newspaper says that Vučić is now facing perhaps the biggest political test of his 14-year dominance over Serbia – snap elections in which he plans to return to the position of prime minister and thus remain in power after his presidential term expires.
Vučić’s second and final presidential term expires in May, and according to the Telegraph, his intention is to return to the position of prime minister in the October elections, a post he has already held.
“‘Balancing’ will be the ultimate legacy of Vučić’s rule,” Helena Ivanov of the Henry Jackson Society told the British newspaper.
According to her, Vučić balances domestic politics in the same way he does relations with foreign countries.
“He has perfected that game. But everyone who criticizes him in Serbia asks: ‘Have we benefited from it?’” Ivanov said.
Elections after almost two years of protests
The Telegraph says that a victory in the parliamentary elections would enable Vučić to preserve his political dominance even after he is no longer able to run for president of Serbia.
The elections also offer him an opportunity to regain control of the political narrative after almost two years of student protests that have seriously shaken his rule.
The protests began after the canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad collapsed in November 2024, killing 16 people, and subsequently grew into a broader movement against corruption and the state of media freedoms.
The British newspaper also recalls recent revelations that Pegasus spyware was used in attacks on the phones of some leaders of the protest movement.
Vučić himself, while announcing the elections, admitted that Serbia had gone through “enormous turbulence.”
Mladić’s funeral and a new game with Brussels
The Telegraph also devotes particular attention to the funeral of Ratko Mladić in Belgrade, held just a few days before the elections were called.
The newspaper recalls that during the 1990s, Vučić was part of an extreme nationalist political movement that supported the Bosnian Serb forces led by Mladić, while he later underwent a political transformation and presented himself as a pro-European conservative.
Nevertheless, the Telegraph says, the nationalist electorate has remained an important part of his political base.
Brussels warned that a state funeral for a convicted war criminal was incompatible with Serbia’s European path. Vučić, however, did not attend the funeral, while some of his ministers were present.
The Telegraph says that an event was organized in such a way that it was effectively a state funeral, although it did not formally carry that name.
There were few concrete consequences from Brussels, apart from the cancellation of a planned visit by the European commissioner responsible for enlargement.
For the British newspaper, this is another example of Vučić’s ability to balance between opposing sides.
Putin in Moscow, von der Leyen in Brussels
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Serbia did not join the European Union’s sanctions against Russia despite strong pressure from the West, and four years later Belgrade continues to maintain close ties with Moscow.
In May, Vučić attended Putin’s Victory Day Parade in Moscow, but just two months later the European Commission recommended opening the next part of Serbia’s EU accession negotiations.
The European Union remains Serbia’s main trading partner, and the Telegraph notes that Brussels is also interested in Serbian lithium, which could help Europe reduce its dependence on China when it comes to raw materials for electric cars and green technologies.
Nevertheless, the newspaper says that the EU has failed to turn its economic power into sufficient political influence over Vučić’s government, which it describes as authoritarian.
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Vučić between Trump and Xi
At the same time, Vučić has worked intensively in recent years to build relations with Donald Trump.
The Telegraph recalls the failed Trump Tower project in Belgrade, which Jared Kushner abandoned following protests, as well as Vučić’s promise that Trump would be welcomed with a red carpet if he visited Serbia.
Vučić once told the U.S. president:
“While others may mock your vision, Serbia understands it. While others may fear your strength, Serbia respects it.”
Alongside his rapprochement with Trump, Vučić has built exceptionally close relations with China, which is a direct geopolitical and economic competitor to both the United States and the European Union.
Chinese investment in Serbia has risen sharply in recent years, and during his visit to Beijing in May, Vučić received the “Friendship Medal” from Xi Jinping, the highest Chinese decoration awarded to foreigners.
China has become Serbia’s second-largest trading partner, immediately behind the EU, and has also offered assistance in building Serbia’s first nuclear power plant under favorable terms.
Can the same game succeed in the elections?
The Telegraph concludes that Vučić has so far managed to maintain relations with all the major powers without being forced to definitively choose a side.
In the snap elections, however, he will not be able to balance in the same way.
The SNS-led coalition faces a serious challenge from the Student List, which plans to nominate people without previous political baggage.
Dejan Pavlović of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade told the Telegraph that a scenario similar to the one in Hungary could be repeated in Serbia, where an opposition challenger, despite a lack of media support and resources, managed to achieve a convincing victory over Viktor Orbán.
Helena Ivanov says that Vučić waited more than 492 days before accepting the students’ demand for snap elections.
In her assessment, the Serbian president now believes he is strong enough to face the student movement and that a victory in the parliamentary elections could weaken the protests, allow him to return to the position of prime minister, and then install a loyal successor as president.
The Telegraph concludes that Vučić faces a political “tightrope walk,” but adds that few politicians are better prepared for such a game than he is.
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Source: Nova ; Foto:Antonio Ahel / ATAImages
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