(Bloomberg) -- A snap general election in Serbia may take place by September, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday as he responded to opposition rallies after two recent mass shootings that shocked the Balkan nation.

“The vote would be held no later than September,” Vucic said in a press conference in eastern town of Smederevo, one of locations where citizens brought weapons following the government’s call to surrender unlicensed firearms. He was commenting on the opposition’s calls to replace the interior minister and a top intelligence official.

Vucic said he will give more details on the timing of a possible general election on May 26.

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Vucic’s center-right Progressive Party and his allies control Serbia’s parliament and the government. The European Union candidate country last held a general election in April 2022, when Prime Minister Ana Brnabic secured a third mandate in a landslide. 

Vucic, 53, has been in power for a decade, either as premier or president. He’s previously said that Brnabic, who was hand-picked by him and approved by parliament, may not serve a full term that started in October, and that a government reshuffle was likely in 2024. 

The country of 7 million has been in talks since 2014 to join the EU, even as it keeps close ties with Russia and refuses to recognize the independence of Kosovo. An election by September would be the third parliamentary vote in four years.  

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