3 October 2026
On 27 September 2026 Aleksandar Vučić announced his resignation as President of Serbia, ending his second and final five-year term about seven months early.
The Serbian Constitution bars a third term; he resigned to lead his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) into the early parliamentary election on 25 October.
If the SNS forms the new government, he can be appointed prime minister.
The SNS and its allies face Students Win, a student-led anti-corruption movement, and European Serbia, an alliance of pro-Western opposition parties.
The student movement grew out of protests after the 1 November 2024 collapse of the station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people.
Resignation announced:
27 September 2026
Early parliamentary election:
25 October 2026
Presidential term ended early:
about 7 months
Novi Sad canopy collapse deaths:
16
Why it matters for exams: A sitting head of state stepping down to contest a parliamentary election tests the difference between presidential and parliamentary powers in a candidate EU country.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
SNS Serbian Progressive Party — The party led by Aleksandar Vučić, in power since 2012.
Snap election Early election — An election held before the end of the normal term.
3 October 2026
After Aleksandar Vučić resigned on 27 September 2026, outgoing National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabić serves as interim president until a new one is elected.
Under Serbia's constitution the presidential election must be completed within 90 days.
The presidential campaign lasts between 30 and 60 days.
Vučić said the first round of the presidential election would be held by the end of December.
Students Win, European Serbia and other parties had yet to nominate presidential candidates when he resigned.
Interim president:
Ana Brnabić, outgoing Speaker
Deadline to complete presidential election:
90 days
Campaign length:
30 to 60 days
First round expected:
by the end of December
Why it matters for exams: Shows how a parliamentary republic fills a vacancy at the top: the legislature's presiding officer steps in for a fixed period.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Interim president Acting head of state — Someone who holds the presidency temporarily until an election is held.
1 October 2026
On 1 October 2026 the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia released preliminary annual results of GDP for 2025.
GDP in 2025 amounted to RSD 10 558 438 million at current prices; it rose by 8,1% in nominal terms and by 2,1% in real terms.
By production, manufacturing had the largest share at 12.2%, ahead of wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (9.9%) and information and communication (8.8%).
By use, individual consumption of households was 60.4% of GDP, gross fixed capital formation 22.8%, exports of goods and services 53.6% and imports 57.8%.
In real terms, exports of goods and services grew by 5.7% and imports by 7.8%.
GDP in 2025, current prices:
RSD 10 558 438 million
Growth in nominal terms:
8,1%
Growth in real terms:
2,1%
Largest share by production:
Manufacturing, 12.2%
Why it matters for exams: National accounts figures such as GDP growth, and the difference between nominal and real terms, are regular economy questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
Real terms Adjusted for price changes — Real growth removes the effect of price changes, while nominal growth does not.
RSD Serbian dinar — The currency in which the release states GDP at current prices.
Background
The First Summit Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. UNESCO's Memory of the World record states that it was initiated by Ghana, India, Indonesia, United Arab Republic, and Yugoslavia. The gathering is also known as the First Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries. Its stated purpose was exchanging ideas on international problems with a view to contributing more effectively to world peace, security and peaceful cooperation among peoples, freedom, equality and social justice, and narrowing the blocs' antagonism. The archives of that summit consist of 76 files of textual archives, 242 photographs, 1 audio archive, and 15 films, and were submitted to the Memory of the World International Register by Algeria, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Serbia. The Press Information Bureau records that India and Serbia have historic and special relations as co-founders of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Embassy of India in Belgrade likewise describes the two countries as co-founders of the Movement.
Countries that initiated the first summit:
Ghana, India, Indonesia, United Arab Republic, and Yugoslavia
Files of textual archives in the collection:
76
Photographs in the collection:
242
Films in the collection:
15
Memory of the World registration year:
2023
Why it matters for exams: The first Non-Aligned summit is the single most examined link between India and Serbia, and the host city and the initiating countries are standard one-mark answers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NAM Non-Aligned Movement — A grouping of states that chose not to align with either of the two Cold War blocs.
Memory of the World UNESCO Memory of the World Programme — A UNESCO programme that registers documentary heritage of world significance.
Background
The European Commission's enlargement pages give Serbia's membership status as candidate country. Serbia, along with 5 other Western Balkans countries, was identified as a potential candidate for EU membership during the Thessaloniki European Council summit in 2003. In 2008 a European partnership for Serbia was adopted, and in 2009 Serbia formally applied. In March 2012 Serbia was granted EU candidate status, and in September 2013 a Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Serbia entered into force. On 21 January 2014 the 1st Intergovernmental Conference took place, signalling the formal start of Serbia's accession negotiations. So far, 22 out of 35 chapters have been opened, two of which are provisionally closed. A candidate country is a state whose application has been accepted and which is negotiating accession; it is not yet a member state of the European Union.
Membership status:
candidate country
Year Serbia formally applied:
2009
When candidate status was granted:
March 2012
Negotiating chapters opened:
22 out of 35
Start of accession negotiations:
21 January 2014
Why it matters for exams: Candidate status is routinely confused with membership; the examiner's point is that Serbia negotiates but does not yet sit as a member state.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Candidate country European Union candidate country — A state whose membership application the European Union has accepted and which is negotiating the terms of entry.
Negotiating chapter Accession negotiating chapter — One of the 35 policy areas in which a candidate's law must be brought into line with European Union rules.
Background
UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme lists Backo Podunavlje and Golija-Studenica as biosphere reserves in Serbia, and together they mark out the country's two contrasting physical regions. Located in the north-western part of Serbia, Backo Podunavlje Biosphere Reserve covers 176,635 ha and extends over the alluvial zones of the central Danube plain. It consists of remnants of historic floodplains and human-made landscapes shaped by agriculture and settlements, and encompasses the largest conserved floodplain complex in the upper course of the Danube River in Serbia. Its primary habitats include alluvial forests, Pannonian salt steppes and salt marshes, mesotrophic standing waters and muddy river shores, and 156 taxa of butterflies have been recorded in the area. Its year of nomination is 2017. Golija-Studenica Biosphere Reserve is situated in south-western Serbia and lies within the inner zone of the Dinaric mountain system. It covers 54,302.00 ha of mountainous country with forests, shrubs and lakes, and its year of nomination is 2001. The biosphere reserve includes the Studenica Monastery, which is a cultural World Heritage site.
Area of Backo Podunavlje Biosphere Reserve:
176,635 ha
Year of nomination, Backo Podunavlje:
2017
Area of Golija-Studenica Biosphere Reserve:
54,302.00 ha
Year of nomination, Golija-Studenica:
2001
Butterfly taxa recorded in Backo Podunavlje:
156 taxa of butterflies
Why it matters for exams: These two reserves are the readable official record of Serbia's two great physical divisions, the Danube lowland in the north and the Dinaric highland in the south-west, and they also link a biosphere reserve to a World Heritage site.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Biosphere reserve UNESCO biosphere reserve — An area designated under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme to combine conservation with sustainable local use.
Alluvial zone Alluvial zone — Land built up from silt and sand laid down by a river in flood.
Background
The Embassy of India in Belgrade records that India and Serbia, as part of former Yugoslavia, have traditionally enjoyed deep friendship as co-founders of the Non-Aligned Movement. Existing bilateral agreements include a Double Taxation Avoidance Convention, a Trade Agreement granting most-favoured-nation status, a Tourism Agreement, memoranda on agricultural cooperation, science and technology, IT and electronics, archives, and on culture, arts, youth, sports and mass media, a Revised Air Services Agreement, an Agreement on Plant Quarantine and Plant Protection, an Agreement of Defence Cooperation and a Cultural Exchange Programme. The India-Serbia Joint Economic Committee was established under the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation. As per data of the Serbian Statistical Office, bilateral trade in 2024 amounted to USD 405.5 million, compared to USD 383.6 million in 2023. The ITEC Programme was extended to Serbia in 2008 and since then 173 Serbian ITEC trainees have undergone training in India. On the cultural side, Rabindranath Tagore visited Serbia and gave two lectures in the Belgrade University; Serbia has two streets named after Mahatma Gandhi and Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru with the busts of the two leaders; and Serbia co-sponsored India's resolutions at the United Nations for the International Day of Non-violence and the International Day of Yoga. Commemorative stamps on Swami Vivekananda and Nikola Tesla were jointly released to mark 70 years of diplomatic relations.
Bilateral trade in 2024:
USD 405.5 million
Bilateral trade in 2023:
USD 383.6 million
Serbian ITEC trainees trained in India:
173 Serbian ITEC trainees
Year the ITEC Programme was extended to Serbia:
2008
Tagore's lectures in Belgrade:
two lectures in the Belgrade University
Why it matters for exams: Bilateral questions reward the agreement names, the trade figure and the cultural markers, and the Non-Aligned Movement link makes Serbia a likely India-and-the-world question.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
ITEC Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme — India's programme of training and technical assistance for partner countries.
MFN Most-favoured-nation status — A trade undertaking to give a partner terms no worse than those given to any other country.
JEC Joint Economic Committee — A standing bilateral body that reviews trade and economic cooperation between two countries.
Background
The World Bank's Serbia country page states that Serbia is an upper-middle-income country and the largest economy in the Western Balkans. Fiscal consolidation brought the budget deficit to 2.4% of GDP in 2025, down from an average of 5.2% during 2010-2014, and public debt has been on a downward path, declining from a peak of 68.3% of GDP in 2015 to 45% of GDP in 2025. Serbia's economic growth decelerated to 2% in 2025, following a more robust 3.9% expansion in 2024, with services the only significant driver on the production side; growth had averaged 3.5% in the previous five years. The World Bank adds that the economic slowdown of 2025 did not affect the collection of revenues which, together with the lower expenditures, led to a lower-than-expected fiscal deficit. The incidence of poverty remained broadly flat at 7.8% in 2025. On the currency, Eurostat's metadata for Serbia records that all transactions on the economic territory of the Republic of Serbia are recorded in the national currency, the Dinar (RSD).
How the World Bank classifies Serbia's economy:
Serbia is an upper-middle-income country and the largest economy in the Western Balkans
Budget deficit:
Fiscal consolidation brought the budget deficit to 2.4% of GDP in 2025
Public debt path:
declining from a peak of 68.3% of GDP in 2015 to 45% of GDP in 2025
Growth rate:
economic growth decelerated to 2% in 2025, following a more robust 3.9% expansion in 2024
Incidence of poverty:
The incidence of poverty remained broadly flat at 7.8% in 2025
Why it matters for exams: Country-profile questions pair a currency with its country, and a debt-to-GDP or deficit-to-GDP trend is the kind of figure examiners use to test whether a candidate reads ratios correctly.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
RSD Serbian dinar — The three-letter currency code for Serbia's national currency.
Upper-middle-income country World Bank income classification — A World Bank income band that sits below high income and above lower-middle income.
Background
The United Nations lists Serbia among its Member States with a date of admission of 01-11-2000. The UN's own account of the growth in its membership records that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was added in 2000, and that it was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, an original member which was removed from the official roster of UN members in 2000 following its dissolution. Serbia is a party to the Central European Free Trade Agreement: the enlarged and modern CEFTA was signed in December 2006, its signatories including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, and Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia have withdrawn from CEFTA on their accession to the EU. NATO's own member-countries page states that at present, NATO has 32 member countries, and its alphabetical list of Allies does not include Serbia. The European Commission's enlargement page gives Serbia's membership status as candidate country, which is not the same as being a member state of the European Union.
Serbia's date of admission to the United Nations:
Date of Admission: 01-11-2000
Signing of the enlarged CEFTA:
signed in December 2006 by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia
CEFTA parties that left on joining the EU:
Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia have withdrawn from CEFTA on their accession to the EU
Size of NATO, which does not include Serbia:
At present, NATO has 32 member countries
Serbia's standing with the European Union:
Membership status: candidate country
Why it matters for exams: Examiners prefer the negative form of membership questions, because knowing that a country is not in NATO or the European Union is harder to guess than knowing that it is in the UN.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
CEFTA Central European Free Trade Agreement — A regional free-trade arrangement whose parties leave it when they join the European Union.
Candidate country EU enlargement status — A state whose application to join the European Union has been accepted for negotiation but which is not yet a member.
Background
The European Commission describes the area covered by the EU Strategy for the Danube Region as mainly the basin of the 2.857 km long Danube River, including also the parts of the mountain ranges where its tributaries originate, such as the Alps and the Carpathians. It stretches from the Black Forest (Germany) to the Black Sea (Romania-Moldova-Ukraine) and is home to around 115 million inhabitants. Involving 14 countries, it is the largest and most diverse macro-regional strategy: nine EU Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, parts of Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia), three Accession Countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia) and Ukraine and Moldova. The Danube Strategy was formally created on 13 April 2011 when the EU Council endorsed the Communication and the accompanying Action Plan. The Commission lists water pollution, floods and climate change among the environmental threats the region faces, alongside shipping potential that is not fully used and gaps in road and rail links. Note that the Commission's page writes the river's length as 2.857 km, using a full stop where English would use a comma as the thousands separator.
Length of the Danube, as the Commission's page writes it:
2.857 km long Danube River
Where the basin ends:
the Black Sea (Romania-Moldova-Ukraine)
Population of the Danube Region:
home to around 115 million inhabitants
Countries in the Danube Region:
Involving 14 countries
Serbia's place in the strategy:
three Accession Countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia)
Creation of the Danube Strategy:
The Danube Strategy was formally created on 13 April 2011
Why it matters for exams: The Danube is the standard example of an international river whose management needs cross-border cooperation, and the river's course from Germany to the Black Sea through Serbia is a map question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
EUSDR EU Strategy for the Danube Region — The European Union's coordination framework for the countries of the Danube basin.
Macro-regional strategy EU cooperation framework for a shared geographic region — A framework that brings member states and non-member neighbours together around one geography, without extra EU money of its own.
Background
UNESCO's country record for Serbia lists six elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. They are Slava, celebration of family saint patron’s day (2014); Kolo, traditional folk dance (2017); Singing to the accompaniment of the Gusle (2018); Zlakusa pottery making, hand-wheel pottery making in the village of Zlakusa (2020); Social practices and knowledge related to the preparation and use of the traditional plum spirit – šljivovica (2022); and Naïve painting practices of Kovačica (2024). Every one of the six is on the Representative List. Separately, Novi Sad belongs to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a Creative City of Media Arts, a member since 2023. UNESCO's page for the city also records that it was designated European Youth Capital in 2019 and European Capital of Culture in 2022, and that it allocates 6% of its budget to supporting the creative sector.
List that carries Serbia's inscribed elements:
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Serbia's inscribed traditional chain dance:
Kolo, traditional folk dance
The family patron saint's day inscription:
Slava, celebration of family saint patron’s day
The pottery inscription:
Zlakusa pottery making, hand-wheel pottery making in the village of Zlakusa
The single-stringed instrument inscription:
Singing to the accompaniment of the Gusle
The most recent of the six inscriptions:
Naïve painting practices of Kovačica
Why it matters for exams: Candidates routinely confuse the Representative List of intangible heritage with the World Heritage List, and a named dance or craft is the easiest way for an examiner to test the difference.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Intangible cultural heritage Living heritage under the 2003 UNESCO Convention — Practices, performances, knowledge and skills that communities keep alive, as opposed to monuments and sites.
Gusle Single-stringed bowed instrument — A bowed instrument used to accompany epic singing in the Western Balkans.
Creative Cities Network UNESCO Creative Cities Network — A UNESCO network of cities that place creative industries at the centre of urban development.
Background
The Council of Europe's Venice Commission records that Serbia is a parliamentary republic, with the government divided into legislative, executive, and judiciary branches. The country's parliament, the National Assembly, is a single chamber. Asked whether Serbia ever had a bicameral system, the Venice Commission's record answers "Always unicameralism", so the country has never worked with a second chamber. That single house has 250 seats. Serbia had one of the first modern constitutions in Europe, the 1835 Constitution, known as the Sretenje Constitution, and has since adopted 10 different constitutions. The current constitution was adopted in 2006. The European Committee of the Regions' division-of-powers profile describes the same arrangement: the Parliament (National Assembly) is unicameral, the Government is led by a Prime Minister and the Head of State is the President.
Seats in Serbia's National Assembly:
250 seats
Form of state and government:
Serbia is a parliamentary republic, with the government divided into legislative, executive, and judiciary branches
Number of chambers the legislature has ever had:
Always unicameralism
Adoption of the present constitution:
The current constitution was adopted in 2006
Why it matters for exams: Comparative-polity questions set a one-chamber legislature against India's two-House Parliament, and the seat strength of a foreign national legislature is a standard one-mark fact.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Unicameral Single-chamber legislature — A legislature with only one house, so a bill is never sent on to a second chamber.
Venice Commission European Commission for Democracy through Law — The Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional questions.