Serbian president invites parties for talks as anti-government protests continue

BELGRADE, April 2 (Reuters) - Serbia's President ‌Aleksandar Vucic will ​begin ​talks on Friday as part of what he has billed as a way to lift the country out of a political crisis ‌but which critics have rejected as pointless negotiations ahead of any early ⁠election.

Vucic, a populist, faces pressure from an anti-government and anti-corruption protest movement that started in December ‌2024, after 16 people died ‌in the collapse of a concrete awning at a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad.

Protesters' demands include an early parliamentary election, ahead ​of when it is due in December 2027.

On Tuesday, following a violent protest in Belgrade, Vucic, whose second and final five-year term also expires in 2027, floated ⁠the idea of a vote this summer or later in the year.

When he has referred to the aim ​for a society-wide dialogue over the past year, he has said he wants to invite all parliamentary parties and students among ​others.

Vucic's office said he would on Friday meet ‌representatives from the pro-Russian Movement of Socialists and leaders of the Bosniak and Hungarian national minorities' Party of Justice and Reconciliation ⁠and the Party of Vojvodina Hungarians - parties supporting his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

Ana Brnabic, the parliamentary speaker from the SNS ranks, told state RTS TV the topics would be the ⁠calls for an early parliamentary election and Serbia's relationship with the European Union.

Savo Manojlovic, leader ​of the Move-Change movement which takes part in the protests, said talks with Vucic would be pointless.

"There should be no negotiations about free elections, autonomous university, independent judiciary," he said.

The opposition ‌Green-Left Front said it would not take part, saying: "We will continue to respond to Vucic only with an unsparing struggle against ‌his criminal regime on all fronts."

Before it joins the EU, Serbia must reform the ⁠judiciary, curb corruption, mend ties with ‌neighbouring Kosovo and align ​foreign policies with those of the bloc.

Belgrade balances its pro-Western bid and ties with China and Russia.

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by ‌Alison Williams)

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