BELGRADE, Aug 21, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told state media that early elections would be held in October, the strongest signal yet that a snap poll demanded by long-running protests is imminent.

"Parliamentary elections in Serbia will most likely take place either on October 18 or October 25," Vucic told national broadcaster RTS on Thursday night.

"We will know in a few days," he said, without providing details.

A protest movement has gripped Serbia since the collapse of a train station canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad killed 16 people in November last year.

The tragedy became a symbol of perceived corruption in the country and set off rolling demonstrations, largely led by students, calling for accountability and eventually early elections.

The last major rally, held in Belgrade in May, drew approximately 180,000 people, according to an independent counting body.

With elections due in December 2027, Vucic has repeatedly promised to hold a snap vote but has avoided naming a date.

The protests have been the largest since the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, and posed the biggest challenge to Vucic's more than a decade in power.

A close ally of Moscow, the 56-year-old recently announced he would resign as president when elections were called. His party colleagues have hinted that they would then support him as prime minister if they won, which would maintain Vucic as the central figure of power in the country.