BELGRADE, Serbia

Serbia’s president on Wednesday announced the country will hold snap elections on Dec. 17, saying the public should be united for national interests amid fierce global conflicts and regional issues.

“We are living in times that are difficult for the whole world, in times of global challenges, wars and conflicts, at a time when it is necessary for us all to be united in the fight for preserving vital national and state interests of the Republic of Serbia,” said Aleksandar Vucic.

The president also cited “numerous pressures,” including over its neighbor Kosovo, which declared its independence in 2008 but which Serbia still sees as its own territory. Tensions have been high between the two countries for months, especially over northern Kosovo, which borders Serbia and has a large ethnic Serb population.

Vucic issued a decree dissolving the parliament which was elected in April 2022.

Vladimir Orlic, the president of Serbia’s parliament, also announced local elections for councilors of the assemblies of 65 cities and municipalities in Serbia, also set for Dec. 17.

The local elections will be held in about 60 municipalities.

The public will vote on all the members of the 250-seat parliament as well as the 120-seat Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the municipal councils of cities and districts across the country.

General elections are held at least every four years in Serbia.

The last one was held in 2020, when the alliance led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) led by Vucic at the time came to power alone.

Protests, shootings, unrest

Hundreds of Serbians have been gathering in cities every Saturday for anti-government protests and demonstrations against the president and to denounce violence.

The gatherings began shortly after two mass shootings took place in less than 48 hours in May which left at least 17 people dead.

At least eight people were killed and 14 wounded in the first shooting when the suspected shooter, 21, opened fire in the town of Mladenovac, 42 kilometers (26 miles) south of the capital Belgrade.

In the second shooting, a teenage boy opened fire on a school in Belgrade, killing eight students and a security guard.

Most recently, tensions have risen since a Kosovo police officer and three local Serbian gunmen were killed in a clash on Sept. 24 in the northern Kosovar village of Banjska.

The area has been the scene of unrest since April, when local ethnic Serbs boycotted elections in northern Kosovo, followed by protests against the election of ethnic Albanian mayors.

Albanians are by far the largest ethnic group in Kosovo, followed by Serbs, with about half living in the north.

Amid the unrest concerning the elections, NATO peacekeepers were deployed, including a group of additional Turkish reinforcements.

Serbia is a candidate for European Union membership, but the bloc has made clear it must make peace with its neighbor Kosovo for its bid to go forward.