Đuro Macut

2025

Macut made his first foreign trip on 26 April, visiting the Vatican City, where he attended the funeral of Pope Francis.^[27] After his return to Serbia, he met with Marta Kos, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, on 29 April, with whom he discussed the accession of Serbia to the European Union.^[28] In early May, he met António Costa, the president of the European Council,^[29] while later that month, he met with Kaja Kallas, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, with whom he discussed Serbia-European Union relations.^[30] In June, he met Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska,^[31] Porfirije, the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church,^[32] and Mostafa Madbouly, the prime minister of Egypt, with whom he discussed trade relations.^[33] In August, Serbia and Austria signed an agreement establishing further economic cooperation.^[34] In October, he met Hristijan Mickoski, the prime minister of North Macedonia,^[35] and the President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen during her visit to Serbia. Macut maintained the position that Serbia is still interested in EU accession.^[36]

In order to resolve the education crisis that began during the student-led anti-corruption protests, Macut initiated meetings with Vladan Đokić, the rector of the University of Belgrade. Their first meeting was held on 22 April.^[37] After the meeting, the rectorate of the University of Belgrade affirmed their position that the crisis would only end with the fulfilment of student demands.^[38] Their meetings continued into June.^[39] Macut and Đokić reached an agreement regarding the financing and activities of the University of Belgrade on 10 June.^[40] However, Đokić said that three more demands were not met.^[41] Vučević has criticised the meetings between Macut and Đokić, due to Đokić allegedly provoking violence at a 28 June (Vidovdan) protest.^[42] The crisis was later resolved, with the new academic year beginning on 1 November 2025.^[43] At the end of 2025, Macut hailed his meetings with University representatives as one of his major tasks as prime minister.^[44]

The government of Serbia adopted proposed changes to the Law on Textbooks in July; Macut described it as a victory for "national responsibility and the sovereign right of Serbia to educate its children according to its own values" (nacionalne odgovornosti i suverenog prava Srbije da svoju decu obrazuje prema sopstvenim vrednostima).^[45] The Association of Textbook Publishers, an association of major publishers in Serbia, alleged that the proposed changes would create a monopoly on the textbook market.^[46] During an event where he celebrated his first 100 days as prime minister, Macut highlighted the Law on Textbooks as well as infrastructure investments for the Pakovraće–Požega highway as his accomplishments.^[47] Economists noted that while Macut highlighted new economic measures during his exposé, he did not introduce any new reforms. Despite this, the minimum wage and wages were increased during his first 100 days.^[48] Macut has called Serbia "an economic tiger with elements of a bear" (ekonomski tigar sa elementima medveda).^[49] In September, Vučić expressed disappointment with the work of ministers in Macut's government.^[50]

Macut took part in the 2025 Western Balkans Summit in London, meeting with the UK prime minister Keir Starmer.^[51] In early November, he traveled to Shanghai, where he met with Li Qiang, the premier of China,^[52] and Chinese business representatives,^[53] while a month later his government formed the Council for Family and Demography.^[54] In late December, Macut held talks with representatives of dairies and retail chains.^[55]

2026

In January 2026, Macut met with Savo Minić, the prime minister of Republika Srpska, with whom he signed an agreement on establishing a railway between Višegrad and Mokra Gora.^[56] Macut travelled to Dubai in early February where he met with Duma Boko, the president of Botswana,^[57] and Irakli Kobakhidze, the prime minister of Georgia.^[58] Soon after, while in Italy, he met with Sergio Mattarella, the president of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, JD Vance, the vice president of the United States, and António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations.^[59] In March, Macut attended the Kopaonik Business Forum,^[60] and met with Alain Berset, the secretary general of the Council of Europe.^[61] Later that month, Macut travelled to Algeria.^[62] In May, Macut attended the 8th European Political Community Summit in Yerevan, Armenia.^[63]

In January, some municipalities in Serbia faced heavy snow, which left at least 6,000 households without electricity. In response, 10 municipalities proclaimed the situation as an emergency.^[64] Macut declined to proclaim a state of emergency, stating that local governments took everything under control.^[65] In late January, Macut held a meeting with his cabinet ministers, alongside president Vučić.^[66] Soon after, he suggested that the cabinet could be reconstructed during spring,^[67] while in February, he expressed disappointment with some ministers.^[68] In the same month, the government proclaimed pronatal policies, investment in road, train, and energy infrastructure, as well as environmentalism as key strategies from 2028 to 2030.^[69] Later in May, Macut suggested reconstructing the government by merging ministries and government agencies.^[70]

Shortly before the first anniversary of his government, Macut, in an interview with the Radio Television of Serbia, proclaimed the "stabilisation of political and social life" (stabilizacija političkog, ali i društvenog života) as the government's best accomplishment, while also expressing hope in reaching political consensus, referencing the talks that president Vučić held with various political parties about the next Serbian parliamentary election.^[71] In February, 62 members of the National Assembly filed an motion of confidence in Macut's government, which was subsequently added to the session's agenda.^[72] The National Assembly met on 15 April, however, there was no quorum for the session to proceed as members of government parties left the session.^[73] A day later, the National Assembly met, again with no quorum.^[74]

In May, Serbia held joint military excercises with NATO for two weeks.^[75]

Opinion polling

In May 2025, an Eurobarometer opinion poll was published in which 57% of the respondents had negative opinion about Macut's government.^[76] A year later, this percentage increased to 59%. In the same poll, 49% of the respondents said that they had positive opinion about the government's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[77]