Serbia PM calls snap elections

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksander Vucic has called a snap election in a move to consolidate his leadership. No date had been set but March looks likely.

Although his Serbian Progressive Party won the last election in 2014 with a landslide, there have been rumours of internal divisions as Vucic tries to carry out economic reforms.

Vucic has pledged to seek EU membership, but still maintains strong ties with Serbia’s traditional Slavic ally Russia.

Serbia opened negotiations with the EU last month in two policy areas, though membership of the wealthy bloc is still far off. Belgrade’s troubled relations with its former province of Kosovo – now recognised by many countries, though not by Serbia, as a sovereign state – are a major obstacle to its EU progress.