Fico leaves Brussels summit early to back Vučić ahead of Serbia vote

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico left a summit in Brussels early and headed to Serbia to personally support Aleksandar Vučić ahead of the parliamentary election on October 25, 2026. He had announced the trip in advance.

Fico was originally due to visit Vučić on October 3 but cancelled for health reasons. According to the Slovak news site pravda.sk, by leaving Brussels early he missed part of important talks that he himself describes as priorities of his government, including those on migration and energy security.

The Slovak prime minister called Vučić “a significant Serbian statesman” because, in his words, he pursues a sovereign policy. In September, Vučić stepped down early as president of Serbia to join the election campaign. If the Serbian Progressive Party wins, he wants to run for prime minister.

The party has been in power in Serbia for more than ten years but now faces strong pressure from the opposition and a student movement that emerged after large-scale anti-government protests. They were sparked by the tragedy in Novi Sad: on November 1, 2024, a railway station canopy collapsed there, killing 16 people.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz