Vucic: Elections to be called by end of year for March 4

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday evening he would grant an opposition demand for early parliamentary elections and local elections in Belgrade to be called by the end of this year, which means that they would be held on March 4.

"We will call them by the end of the year, on December 31, for March 4. I think that is 60 days - if not, they will be called for one week before that, no problem," Vucic said on a Pink TV talk show.

When asked if that meant the elections would be held just before his birthday, March 5, Vucic responded ironically that the opposition wanted to celebrate his birthday "with another defeat."

"That is probably why they wrote that they want the elections called by the end of the year," he added, commenting on a written demand recently submitted by a group of opposition parties.