Vucic: Elections will not be easy by any means, another term would be sufficient

BELGRADE/ZURICH - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says he has decided in favour of early elections for several reasons, including a need to have a legitimate government and people with legitimacy.

In an interview for the Swiss Weltwoche weekly, Vucic said that, during last year's protests in the country, he had promised to his opponents that he would call elections by the end of this year.

"All our opponents, they were all united and wanted to topple me in the streets, but when they saw that it is not possible, then they asked me to call early elections, and I told them 'Not now, but you will get early elections.' I made that promise to them," Vucic said.

He also said he believed the elections would solve some issues and that the election race would be by no means easy as huge amounts of money had been invested in a revolution aimed at toppling him and the government.

"I hope that, in any case, we will be able to win in parliamentary elections and that I might be a candidate for PM if the party (the Serbian Progressive Party) decides so and if that is how I feel," he said.

Asked by the interviewer whether it might be time for him to cede power to someone else after many years in office, Vucic responded that he was 56 years old - not 76 or 86 like some other presidents - and that he did not believe that could be the reason for someone to retire, but agreed that 14 years was not a short period of time.

"I think that another term would perhaps be sufficient," he said.