Hadzibabic Announces Novi Sad SNS Rally, Spens Has No Lease
A candidate on the United Serbia list invites Novi Sad residents to a rally by the end of the week. The party has given no date, and Spens has no signed lease or registered event.
Radomir Hadzibabic, a candidate on the United Serbia list for the October 25 parliamentary elections, has announced a Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) rally in Novi Sad “by the end of the week.” The party has not officially announced a date, and the public enterprise Spens says it has no signed lease for the venue and no rally on record for now.
What did Hadzibabic say about the SNS rally in Novi Sad?
He made the announcement as a guest on Novi Sad Television, where he invited all residents of the city to attend. He described the rally as “magnificent” and explained its purpose this way:
“To show that Novi Sad is not a blockader city, but a city of free people who can gather in their own city and give their support to the future prime minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.”
The statement was reported by the N1 portal, citing the news portal 021.rs.
What is known about the date, place and time?
The Serbian Progressive Party has not officially announced a date. According to 021.rs, Friday, October 16, is being mentioned around town, but that has not been confirmed. Even party members reportedly do not yet know the location or the time.
The same portal reports that members and sympathizers are being invited, along with people whose phone numbers were left as safe votes without their knowledge.
The interior of the Spens sports center has also been mentioned. The public enterprise told 021.rs that for now it has no signed lease for the space and no registered rally, including events of a political nature.
What have other list leaders announced?
Milos Vucevic, a candidate on the list, announced earlier that the biggest rally and the largest gathering ever held in Novi Sad would take place, and that, as he put it, “no one will be able to ban” it. He did not give a date.
Aleksandar Vucic said on October 5 that “a big rally in Novi Sad” is expected. In his words, it would be larger than the one at the Belgrade Arena and would be held on Freedom Square.
Why has a Novi Sad rally been announced for months?
Announced visits by Vucic to Novi Sad have repeatedly failed to happen. N1 lists the earlier dates:
- a rally scheduled for September 4 was cancelled by Vucic himself, citing security reasons
- a rally announced for November 2025, “10 to 20 days after the commemoration for the victims of the canopy collapse,” was not held by the end of the year
- June 28 or July 5, 2025 were the planned dates, and in early July the rally was postponed “to avoid tensions”
- a rally announced for Candlemas (Sretenje) was held in Sremska Mitrovica, not in Novi Sad
In September 2025, asked about claims that he does not dare to come to Novi Sad, Vucic, then president of Serbia, said on Pink Television: “Me, persona non grata? I am coming soon to a big rally.” No rally was scheduled in the weeks that followed.
A month earlier he had promised one of the largest rallies in the city but did not deliver it because of “foreign policy trips.” According to 021.rs, Vucic and the SNS have not organized a public event in Novi Sad since the canopy collapse at the railway station.
For now, Hadzibabic’s announcement comes with no official date and no confirmed venue.
