Serbia’s populist leader relies on his tested playbook to mastermind another election victory
Serbia’s populist leader relies on his tested playbook to mastermind another election victory
FILE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic arrives at a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 24, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further.(AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s prime minister, center, is seen during a scuffle at the Potocari memorial complex near Srebrenica, 150 kilometers northeast of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on July 11, 2015. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic, File)
FILE - Britain’s Prince Charles, left, and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall are welcomed by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, center, at the Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport, on March 16, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic inspects arms at the Batajnica military airport outside Belgrade, Serbia, on April 6, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian artist Zivko Grozdanic smashes a statue of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, during a photocall, in the village of Veliko Srediste, Serbia, on April 22, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic shake hands for the media upon their arrival at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Aug. 16, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Aleksandar Vucic, ultra-nationalist SRS (Serbian Radical Party) candidate for Belgrade mayor, casts his ballot accompanied with his son Danilo, on Oct. 3 2004, during runoff local elections in Serbia. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic listens to a question during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 30, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a press conference, in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 30, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, center right, speaks with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban before a press conference on a Hungarian-Serbian government session, in the town of Nis, Serbia, on Nov. 21, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic speaks in the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox temple in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, on Feb. 22, 2018. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Serbian’s President Aleksandar Vucic, left, brief the media prior to a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on April 13, 2018. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks with a pilot of MiG-29 jet fighter on the tarmac at Batajnica, military airport near Belgrade, Serbia, on Aug. 21, 2018. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attends a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Nov. 20, 2018. Serbia’s leader for more than 10 years Aleksandar Vucic is set to strengthen his tight grip on power after an election victory in a weekend parliamentary vote. Despite his ultranationalist past, the 53-year-old pro-Russian is courted by European and U.S. officials who see him as an inevitable negotiator who can maintain peace in the Balkans, or trigger more trouble in the region ravaged by bloody wars in the 1999s. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE- Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, poses with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after being awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 17, 2019. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci, left, shakes hands with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, right as European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini looks on during the Brdo-Brijuni Process Leaders’ Meeting in Tirana, Albania, on May 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic prior to a welcome ceremony ahead of meeting with his Czech Republic’s counterpart Milos Zeman at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 11, 2019. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, center, during a welcome ceremony ahead of meeting with his Czech Republic’s counterpart Milos Zeman at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 11, 2019. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, left, stands as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, centre talks to Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, right, during a ceremony in Istanbul for the inauguration of the TurkStream pipeline, on Jan. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump listens as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks after participating in a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, on Sept. 4, 2020, in Washington. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, right, arrives for an EU summit at the Brdo Congress Center in Kranj, Slovenia, on Oct. 6, 2021. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a major rally in front of the Serbian parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 26, 2023. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - A man holds a cutout figure depicting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic wearing a prison uniform during a protest against violence in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 9, 2023. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic arrives at a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 24, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further.(AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic arrives at a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 24, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further.(AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s prime minister, center, is seen during a scuffle at the Potocari memorial complex near Srebrenica, 150 kilometers northeast of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on July 11, 2015. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic, File)
FILE - Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s prime minister, center, is seen during a scuffle at the Potocari memorial complex near Srebrenica, 150 kilometers northeast of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on July 11, 2015. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic, File)
FILE - Britain’s Prince Charles, left, and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall are welcomed by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, center, at the Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport, on March 16, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Britain’s Prince Charles, left, and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall are welcomed by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, center, at the Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport, on March 16, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic inspects arms at the Batajnica military airport outside Belgrade, Serbia, on April 6, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic inspects arms at the Batajnica military airport outside Belgrade, Serbia, on April 6, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian artist Zivko Grozdanic smashes a statue of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, during a photocall, in the village of Veliko Srediste, Serbia, on April 22, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian artist Zivko Grozdanic smashes a statue of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, during a photocall, in the village of Veliko Srediste, Serbia, on April 22, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic shake hands for the media upon their arrival at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Aug. 16, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic shake hands for the media upon their arrival at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Aug. 16, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Aleksandar Vucic, ultra-nationalist SRS (Serbian Radical Party) candidate for Belgrade mayor, casts his ballot accompanied with his son Danilo, on Oct. 3 2004, during runoff local elections in Serbia. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Aleksandar Vucic, ultra-nationalist SRS (Serbian Radical Party) candidate for Belgrade mayor, casts his ballot accompanied with his son Danilo, on Oct. 3 2004, during runoff local elections in Serbia. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic listens to a question during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 30, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic listens to a question during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 30, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a press conference, in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 30, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a press conference, in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 30, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, center right, speaks with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban before a press conference on a Hungarian-Serbian government session, in the town of Nis, Serbia, on Nov. 21, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, center right, speaks with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban before a press conference on a Hungarian-Serbian government session, in the town of Nis, Serbia, on Nov. 21, 2016. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic speaks in the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox temple in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, on Feb. 22, 2018. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic speaks in the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox temple in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, on Feb. 22, 2018. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Serbian’s President Aleksandar Vucic, left, brief the media prior to a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on April 13, 2018. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Serbian’s President Aleksandar Vucic, left, brief the media prior to a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on April 13, 2018. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks with a pilot of MiG-29 jet fighter on the tarmac at Batajnica, military airport near Belgrade, Serbia, on Aug. 21, 2018. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks with a pilot of MiG-29 jet fighter on the tarmac at Batajnica, military airport near Belgrade, Serbia, on Aug. 21, 2018. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attends a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Nov. 20, 2018. Serbia’s leader for more than 10 years Aleksandar Vucic is set to strengthen his tight grip on power after an election victory in a weekend parliamentary vote. Despite his ultranationalist past, the 53-year-old pro-Russian is courted by European and U.S. officials who see him as an inevitable negotiator who can maintain peace in the Balkans, or trigger more trouble in the region ravaged by bloody wars in the 1999s. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attends a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Nov. 20, 2018. Serbia’s leader for more than 10 years Aleksandar Vucic is set to strengthen his tight grip on power after an election victory in a weekend parliamentary vote. Despite his ultranationalist past, the 53-year-old pro-Russian is courted by European and U.S. officials who see him as an inevitable negotiator who can maintain peace in the Balkans, or trigger more trouble in the region ravaged by bloody wars in the 1999s. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE- Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, poses with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after being awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 17, 2019. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE- Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, poses with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after being awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 17, 2019. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci, left, shakes hands with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, right as European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini looks on during the Brdo-Brijuni Process Leaders’ Meeting in Tirana, Albania, on May 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina, File)
FILE - President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci, left, shakes hands with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, right as European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini looks on during the Brdo-Brijuni Process Leaders’ Meeting in Tirana, Albania, on May 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic prior to a welcome ceremony ahead of meeting with his Czech Republic’s counterpart Milos Zeman at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 11, 2019. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic prior to a welcome ceremony ahead of meeting with his Czech Republic’s counterpart Milos Zeman at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 11, 2019. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, center, during a welcome ceremony ahead of meeting with his Czech Republic’s counterpart Milos Zeman at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 11, 2019. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, center, during a welcome ceremony ahead of meeting with his Czech Republic’s counterpart Milos Zeman at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 11, 2019. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, left, stands as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, centre talks to Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, right, during a ceremony in Istanbul for the inauguration of the TurkStream pipeline, on Jan. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)
FILE - Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, left, stands as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, centre talks to Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, right, during a ceremony in Istanbul for the inauguration of the TurkStream pipeline, on Jan. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump listens as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks after participating in a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, on Sept. 4, 2020, in Washington. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump listens as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks after participating in a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, on Sept. 4, 2020, in Washington. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, right, arrives for an EU summit at the Brdo Congress Center in Kranj, Slovenia, on Oct. 6, 2021. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, right, arrives for an EU summit at the Brdo Congress Center in Kranj, Slovenia, on Oct. 6, 2021. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a major rally in front of the Serbian parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 26, 2023. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a major rally in front of the Serbian parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 26, 2023. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - A man holds a cutout figure depicting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic wearing a prison uniform during a protest against violence in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 9, 2023. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - A man holds a cutout figure depicting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic wearing a prison uniform during a protest against violence in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 9, 2023. The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Aleksandar Vucic likes nothing more than to win. Critics say he cheats, but Serbia’s president shows he just knows the job of remaining in power.
The populist leader has ruled the Balkan nation for more than a decade as both prime minister and president. After his populists won a weekend snap parliamentary election, Vucic seems set to tighten his already autocratic rule still further.
During a political career that spans more than 30 years, Vucic has morphed from being an extreme nationalist who supported an aggression against non-Serbs, to a regional player lauded by Western officials for keeping the Balkans relatively stable.
The 53-year-old comes across as both pro-European and pro-Russian. He says Serbia should join the European Union but then bashes the EU at every opportunity. He appointed Serbia’s first-ever gay prime minister but later banned a pride march.
“This was an absolute victory and I am extremely happy about it,” Vucic said late on Sunday after declaring the triumph of his populists in the snap vote.
Critics say Vucic will do anything to keep power as long as possible.
Since ousting a pro-Western government at an election in 2012, Vucic and his ruling populists have gradually taken control over all layers of power, the mainstream media, the state institutions and companies.
As in all the elections during Vucic’s time in power, Sunday’s poll was marred by reports of voting irregularities and complaints that his control over pro-government media and shadowy funds used to bribe voters gave his party an unfair advantage once again.
“Though technically well-administered and offering voters a choice of political alternatives, (the elections) were dominated by the decisive involvement of the President which together with the ruling party’s systemic advantages created unjust conditions,” international election observers said in a report published Monday.
Zoran Stojiljkovic, a political analyst, said that Vucic played the main role in “manipulating” the election.
“He simply created a doomsday atmosphere,” Stojiljkovic said “It is political blackmail: if my party and my coalition do not win, then I won’t be president, and then you create a political crisis and you seek overwhelming support.
“And he did it, having in mind the very passive and hypocritical position of the political West, which places far more importance on having a stabilocrat in power than on democratic values,” he said.
Serbia, the largest country to emerge from the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia after wars triggered by late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, has commanded the attention of both the United States and the European Union as the pivot for many problems in the volatile region.
With war raging in Ukraine, analysts say the EU has been careful not to push Serbia further away, even as Vucic refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow. The U.S. and EU have worked closely with Vucic to try to reach a deal in Serbia’s breakaway former province of Kosovo which declared independence in 2008 where tensions at the border have threatened regional stability.
During the wars in the 1990s, Vucic was one of the leaders of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party which advocated the creation of a “Greater Serbia” that would include territories in Croatia and Bosnia where minority Serbs live.
He was known for fiery speeches, including one in Serbia’s parliament where he said that for each Serb killed in the Bosnian war, 100 Bosnian Muslims must die. He later said that he didn’t mean it literally.
Vucic was Serbia’s information minister in the late 1990s, when media critical of Milosevic were slapped with heavy fines or shut down altogether. Vucic shifted away from ultranationalism to an alleged pro-EU stance on the eve of his return to power after an election in 2012.
Angela Merkel, German Chancellor at the time, was considered to be his patron, helping to burnish his image with EU officials.
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Jovana Gec contributed.