Quick read
- Tanjug reports that Aleksandar Vucic resigned as president on Sunday and handed presidential duties to Ana Brnabic on Monday.
- Brnabic, Serbia’s parliament speaker and former prime minister, can serve as acting president for no more than 90 days under the constitutional process cited by Tanjug.
- The openly gay milestone is historical context from Brnabic’s public biography; the official handover record does not frame the event that way.
Serbia has entered an acting presidency after Aleksandar Vucic resigned and transferred presidential duties to National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabic, according to Serbia’s state news agency Tanjug.
What happened
Tanjug reported on September 28 that Vucic, who resigned as president on Sunday, handed over the duties on Monday to Brnabic. The agency said she will act as president of the republic until a new president is elected.
A separate Tanjug report said Brnabic described herself as honoured to take over the role and to “safeguard this position until the people elect the next president of the Republic of Serbia.”
What is confirmed
The core succession claim is supported by three Tanjug records: Vucic’s September 25 statement that he would resign on Sunday evening, the September 28 handover report, and Brnabic’s September 28 statement after taking over duties.
Tanjug also reported that the Serbian Constitution allows Brnabic to remain acting president for no longer than 90 days. The agency said presidential elections are called by the parliament speaker and cannot be held fewer than 30 or more than 60 days after being called.
Brnabic’s public biography is central to the milestone claim. She previously served as prime minister from 2017 to 2024 and has long been publicly documented as Serbia’s first openly lesbian prime minister. Her elevation to acting presidential duties therefore appears to make her Serbia’s first openly gay person to exercise the presidency, even though she has not been elected president.
What is not confirmed
NoDechev did not find a directly fetchable President of Serbia page or legal handover document that uses the phrase “first openly gay acting president.” That phrase should be treated as a historical characterization based on the handover record and Brnabic’s public biography, not as official Serbian wording.
The same caveat applies to the word “president.” Brnabic is acting president because of the succession process; she has not won a presidential election. The current record also does not show that the election calendar has already been fully set.
Image: Aleksandar Vucic at a 2024 meeting in Belgrade — European Union / Oliver Bunic, via Wikimedia Commons, attribution license basis shown on file page.
Why it matters
Vucic has dominated Serbian politics for years as prime minister, president and leader of the ruling political bloc. His resignation shifts him into the parliamentary campaign rather than removing him from politics. A later Tanjug item on September 29 described him as leading the United Serbia electoral list for upcoming early parliamentary polls.
Brnabic’s acting presidency is therefore both a constitutional succession story and a political transition story. It gives Serbia an interim head of state while preserving Vucic’s active role in the next campaign.
The identity milestone is real news context, but it should not overwhelm the institutional point: Serbia now has an acting president whose term is temporary and tied to a new presidential election.
What to watch next
The next key step is the formal calling of the presidential election. Tanjug’s constitutional summary says the election must take place 30 to 60 days after it is called, and Brnabic’s acting role is capped at 90 days.
The second point to watch is Vucic’s role in the parliamentary vote. His own explanation for resignation was that he wanted to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections as an ordinary citizen. That makes the resignation less a withdrawal from politics than a move into another electoral lane.
NoDechev rating
PARTIALLY CONFIRMED. The resignation and acting-presidency handover are confirmed by Tanjug. The “first openly gay acting president” formulation is supported by Brnabic’s public biography and the handover record, but it is not language found in the official handover text available through background fetch.