Authorities in Serbia have arrested two men suspected of plotting to assassinate President Aleksandar Vucic and overthrow the constitutional order, the interior ministry said on February 23.

In a statement, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said police detained two suspects from Kraljevo, central Serbia, born in 1975 and 1983, on suspicion of preparing acts against the constitutional order and state security.

Investigators believe that between December 2025 and February 2026 the men conspired to procure weapons and carry out attacks on Vucic, his wife and children, as well as on interior ministry personnel. The suspects are to be held for up to 48 hours and then brought before prosecutors, the statement said.

Authorities described the alleged plan as an attempt to violently overthrow state institutions.

Milos Vucevic, head of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and an adviser to the president, said hostile rhetoric against Vucic had created a climate conducive to violence. Writing on X, he said a “continuous monstrous campaign” had dehumanised the president and his family.

The arrests come amid heightened political tensions in Serbia after months of student-led protests and road blockades in 2025 over alleged corruption and government negligence in the wake of the November 2024 train station disaster in Novi Sad.

Officials say increasingly sharp rhetoric from opposition figures and some media outlets has fuelled divisions, while critics of the government accuse authorities of authoritarianism and excessive force against demonstrators, allegations the government denies.