President Vučić signed a decree on 9 September dissolving the National Assembly and calling extraordinary parliamentary elections for 25 October. Only parliamentary elections were called; no presidential vote was announced. The campaign now formally begins, after a summer in which CRTA's monitoring recorded a de facto campaign already under way, with the advantages of incumbency mobilised well before the official start. Following its needs assessment in July, ODIHR has recommended deploying a full election observation mission to Serbia.

The funeral of Ratko Mladić in Belgrade on 7 September, attended by government ministers and held with military honours, drew condemnation across the EU. Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa called the images shocking and the presence of senior Serbian officials deeply regrettable. Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos postponed her visit to Serbia, saying the EU path requires confronting the past, genuine reconciliation and respect for victims. Foreign ministers of Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Lithuania also criticised the honours, with Belgium's Maxime Prévot saying Serbia was moving in the opposite direction of what is expected of a candidate country. President Vučić dismissed Kos's criticism as "stupid" and said he had ensured a dignified burial.