Parliamentary elections in Serbia
Date/Time
December 14, 2023
10:00 - 11:30 CEST/CET
Online panel discussion
UPDATE: Due to a Covid case at the IDM and respecting the health of our guests, the event will take place online only!
On 17 December 2023, Serbia will hold early parliamentary elections. At the same time, local elections will be held in 65 municipalities, including the capital Belgrade. Initially scheduled for April 2026, these are the fourth early parliamentary elections since President Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power in 2012, exemplifying the strategic abuse of the electoral cycle. Snap elections are a tool to undermine the consolidation of opposition parties and parliamentary groups. Furthermore, clustering elections on different levels is a common practice of the SNS leadership, aiming to overshadow individual decisions and therefore support local re-election efforts for their party.
The strategic value these December elections have for SNS is unclear. Potential triggers include the mass protests against violence, which resulted in the big-tent coalition list “Serbia Against Violence”, the conflict with Kosovo and possible pressures from the international community to commit to the Ohrid Agreement, and the economic crisis. Is there a power shift to be expected in Serbia? What are the opposition’s chances of winning in Belgrade? Join our hybrid panel discussion with international and local experts to learn more about the framework in which these elections are taking place.
Welcome Address
Sebastian Schäffer, Director, Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM)
Briefing on the current situation in Serbia
Melanie Jaindl, Research Associate, Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM)
Panel Discussion
Alejandro Esteso Perez, PhD Candidate at the Centre for Southeast European Studies of the University of Graz, BiEPAG-Fellow
Ema Štefanac, Capacity building Program Coordinator, Građanske inicijative, Belgrade
Péter Techet, Research Associate, Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), Vienna
Moderation
Daniel Martínek, Research Associate, Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM)
Venue: Online
Registration: You can follow the discussion via Zoom webinar or livestream on the IDM YouTube channel. To participate in Zoom webinar, please register:
Categories
