Dacic: Socialists Accept Vucic Call to Join June 27 Rally
SPS leader Ivica Dacic confirmed on Instagram that the Socialist Party will attend the Serbia, One Family rally on June 27 outside parliament, urging members to turn out.
- Ivica Dacic, interior minister and SPS leader, announced on June 22 that his party accepts President Vucic's invitation to a Belgrade rally.
- The Serbia, One Family rally takes place on June 27 on the plaza outside the National Assembly building.
- Dacic urged party members, supporters and voters to attend and help defend national and state interests.
- The official name of the electoral list led by the SNS and its coalition partners is expected to be unveiled at the event.
Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s interior minister and leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia, announced on June 22 via Instagram that his party accepts President Aleksandar Vucic’s invitation and will attend a rally scheduled for June 27 in Belgrade. The gathering, titled Serbia, One Family, will be held on the plaza in front of the National Assembly building, at the close of a week that traditionally carries strong Vidovdan symbolism in Serbia.
In his post, Dacic said the SPS had always been a state-building and politically responsible party, and called on all members, supporters and voters to come out in front of parliament. The aim of the gathering, he stated, is to help defend national and state interests. The message is a standard mobilization appeal from the party leadership ahead of a major public event, but also a clear signal that the ruling coalition is consolidating in one place before the next electoral cycle.
What does the Socialists’ turnout confirm?
The confirmation comes as the ruling coalition visibly regroups. Dacic’s decision is no surprise in substance, since the SPS and the Serbian Progressive Party have shared power for years, but it carries weight in symbolism. When the president announces a rally of this scale, the absence of a key coalition partner would be read as a crack at the top. Dacic’s post, by contrast, projects unity, and does so a week before Vidovdan, a date around which symbolism regularly concentrates in Serbian politics.
The rally is being prepared as one of the largest pro-government gatherings of the year, with supporters expected from across the country. The plaza in front of the National Assembly was not chosen by chance: it is the central point of Belgrade’s political life and a space used over the past year by both the government and the opposition. Locating the rally there adds further weight in the context of the street gatherings that have marked recent months.
What is expected from the announced rally?
According to the announcements, the rally is also expected to feature the unveiling of the official name of the electoral list led by the SNS together with its coalition partners. If confirmed, the June 27 event shifts from a show of support to a practical step toward the next electoral contest. The list’s name is more than a marketing detail, since it usually signals who the front-runners are and what political tone the ruling structure brings into the campaign.
Opposition parties and part of the student movement have for months been organizing their own gatherings and blockades, so a pro-government rally will inevitably be read as a response to that street pressure. The balance of forces on the squares has become part of everyday political calculation, and June 27 will offer a measure of how much mobilization capacity the ruling coalition has on its side.
For the Socialist Party of Serbia, attending the rally confirms that it remains inside the ruling bloc ahead of the coming electoral cycle. Dacic thus positions his party as a stable pillar of government, but also as an actor counting on its own base within the broader coalition. Will the announced rally indeed bring the name of the electoral list, and what message will the ruling coalition send on the eve of Vidovdan?
