Serbia Centre
Serbia Centre is a centrist political party in Serbia. It is led by Zdravko Ponoš, former chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces from 2006 to 2008.
Ponoš was the presidential candidate of the United for the Victory of Serbia alliance in the 2022 presidential election. Shortly after the election, SRCE was formed as a split from the People's Party. It became a registered political party in July 2023, after which it became a member of the Serbia Against Violence coalition that contested the [2023 Serbian 2023 Serbian parliamentary election|parliamentary election|parliamentary], Vojvodina provincial, and [2023 2023 Belgrade City Assembly election|Belgrade City Assembly election|Belgrade City Assembly] elections in December 2023. In those elections, SRCE gained representation in all bodies. However, they lost representation in the City Assembly of Belgrade because they boycotted the 2024 Belgrade City Assembly election.
SRCE is opposed to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and supports the accession of Serbia to the European Union. It supports fighting climate change, increasing child allowance, and the reform of the pension system. Since the beginning of the student-led anti-corruption protests, SRCE has voiced its support for the students and have called for early parliamentary elections and the formation of a transitional government as an end to the crisis started by the protests.
History
Formation
Zdravko Ponoš, a member and former vice-president of the People's Party, was a candidate in the 2022 Serbian presidential election, on behalf of the United for the Victory of Serbia coalition. He placed second behind incumbent president Aleksandar Vučić, winning 18% of the popular vote. Following the election, he left Narodna and announced that he would work on creating a movement or political party. Serbia Centre was founded on 26 June 2022, while it was officially presented to the public on 6 July 2022.2022–present
After its inception, it cooperated with the Democratic Party, Together, and Green–Left Front opposition parties. Its offices in Vranje were attacked by an unknown group of assailants in February 2023. SRCE supported the mass protests that began after the Belgrade school shooting and Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings in May 2023. In August 2023, SRCE, DS, and Together signed a cooperation agreement. SRCE became part of the Serbia Against Violence coalition in October 2023, a coalition of political parties organising the 2023 protests. SPN announced that it would contest the parliamentary, Vojvodina provincial, and Belgrade City Assembly elections, all scheduled for 17 December 2023. In the parliamentary election, SPN won 65 seats, nine of which went to SRCE.When the National Assembly of Serbia and Assembly of Vojvodina were constituted, the SPN split into several parliamentary groups. The City Assembly of Belgrade, on the other hand, was not constituted because the quorum was not met during its constitutive session. A new Belgrade City Assembly election was then called for 2 June. SPN dissolved shortly after; SRCE opted not to take part in the election.
Since the beginning of the student-led anti-corruption protests, SRCE has supported the students. Following the resignation of Miloš Vučević as prime minister of Serbia in 2025, SRCE was one of the parties that supported the formation of a transitional government as an end to the crisis started by the protests. The signatories said that according to their plan, the transitional government would fulfill student demands, organise free and fair elections, and revise the voter list. SRCE has additionally called for early parliamentary elections. In May 2025, Slobodan Ilić, a member of parliament, left SRCE, reducing their presence to eight seats.
Ideology and platform
SRCE is a centrist political party. According to Dušan Spasojević, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, during the 2022 electoral campaign Ponoš had "quite unclear positions about key issues, but a shift to the left has been noticeable" since the formation of SRCE. It is opposed to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, accusing them of populism and allegedly "destroying the education" in Serbia. SRCE has also expressed support for cooperation between opposition parties. Following the Belgrade school shooting and Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings, SRCE expressed its support for the formation of a transitional government. They have again called for the formation of a transitional government during the student-led anti-corruption protests.According to Marko Vujić, an assistant at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade, SRCE is a "climate responsible" organisation that has an elaborate strategy to fight climate change. SRCE supports declaring milk as a strategic product for Serbia and adopting measures that would revive the milk production sector. It has criticised the government's approach towards workers at Zastava Arms in January 2023. SRCE supports increasing child allowance, while in October 2024 they submitted a Law on Stolen Babies. They also support the reform of the pension system. Regarding Belgrade, they oppose the demolition of Belgrade Fair.
SRCE supports the accession of Serbia to the European Union. In regards to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it supports "stepping away from what Russia is doing". Ponoš has, however, accused Ukraine of trying to involve NATO into the war.
Organisation
SRCE is led by Ponoš, its founder, who was elected at its assembly in October 2023 and re-elected again in October 2025. Mihailo Brkić, Duško Lopandić, Slobodan Cvejić, Tatjana Marković Topalović, and Slobodan Petrović serve as vice-presidents. Its headquarters is at Stojana Protića 48, Belgrade. Ponoš also serves as the president of its parliamentary group in the National Assembly.Ponoš announced in March 2023 that SRCE would begin collecting signatures to register as a political party. In June 2023, SRCE announced that they had collected 10,000 signatures that are needed for the registration. On 12 July 2023, it was registered as political party.