Government of Serbia in the context of "Community of Serb Municipalities"

International governments are divided on the issue of recognition of the independence of Kosovo from Serbia, which was declared in 2008. The Government of Serbia does not diplomatically recognise Kosovo as a sovereign state, although the two countries have enjoyed normalised economic relations since 2020 and have agreed not to try to interfere with the other's accession to the European Union.

As of 29 October 2025, at least 109 out of 193 (56.5%) United Nations member states, 22 out of 27 (81.5%) European Union member states, 28 out of 32 (87.5%) NATO member states and 37 out of 57 (64.9%) Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member states have recognised Kosovo. In total, Kosovo has received 120 diplomatic recognitions by UN member states, however conflicts have arisen regarding the exact number of countries recognising Kosovo. Kosovo claims that the number of countries recognising its independence is 120, whilst Serbia claims the number is 84, stating that some countries have withdrawn recognition. Third party sources give the number of recognising countries as around 110.

A municipality (Albanian: komuna; Serbian: општина, romanized: opština) is the basic administrative division in Kosovo and constitutes the only level of power in local governance. There are 38 municipalities in Kosovo; 27 of which have an Albanian ethnic majority, 10 Serb and 1 Turkish. After the 2013 Brussels Agreement, signed by the governments of Kosovo and Serbia, an agreement was made to create a Community of Serb Municipalities, which would operate within Kosovo's legal framework. Since 2013, the agreement has not been fulfilled by Kosovo's authorities, calling upon its constitution and territorial integrity.

The administrative divisions of Serbia are regulated by the Government decree of 29 January 1992, and by the Law on Territorial Organization adopted by the National Assembly on 29 December 2007.

There are two types of administrative divisions in Serbia: political (regional and local self-government - autonomous provinces and cities and municipalities) and administrative (administrative districts for decentralized services of the state and statistical regions for statistical purposes).

The prime minister of Serbia (Serbian: премијер Србије, romanized: premijer Srbije; feminine: премијерка/premijerka), formally the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: председник Владе Републике Србије, romanized: predsednik Vlade Republike Srbije; feminine: председница/predsednica) is the head of the Government of Serbia. The role of the prime minister is to direct the work of the government, and submits to the National Assembly the government's program, including a list of proposed ministers. The resignation of the prime minister results in the dismissal of the government. In the formal order of precedence, the position of prime minister is the third highest state office, after the president of the Republic and the president of the National Assembly.

The first officeholder was Matija Nenadović, who became president of the Serbian Governing Council on 27 August 1805. The current prime minister, Đuro Macut was nominated by the president of the Republic, Aleksandar Vučić, and elected and appointed along with his cabinet by the National Assembly on 16 April 2025.

The president of Serbia (Serbian: Председник Србије, romanized: Predsednik Srbije), officially styled as President of the Republic (Serbian: Председник Републике, romanized: Predsednik Republike), is the head of state of Serbia, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, representing the country both at home and abroad. The president jointly exercises the executive power with the Government, headed by the Prime Minister.

The president is elected on the basis of universal suffrage, through a secret ballot, for a five-year term. If no candidate in the election secures more than 50% of all votes cast, a runoff election between the top two candidates from the first round is held. The Constitution sets a limit of a maximum of two terms in office.

The National Assembly (Serbian: Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, pronounced [nǎːrodnaː skûpʃtina]) or Parliament (Serbian: Парламент, Parlament, pronounced [parlameːnt]), formally the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Народна скупштина Републике Србије, romanized: Narodna skupština Republike Srbije), is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are proportionally elected to four-year terms on the basis of direct, universal, and equal suffrage by secret ballot. It is presided over by a President of the National Assembly (speaker), who is assisted by at least one vice-president (deputy speaker).

The National Assembly exercises supreme legislative power. It adopts and amends the Constitution, laws, elects Government, appoints state officials such as the Supreme Public Prosecutor, Ombudsman, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, President of the State Audit Institution. All decisions are made by majority vote of deputies at the session at which a majority of deputies are present, except for amending the Constitution, when a two-thirds majority is needed.

The First Agreement of Principles Governing the Normalisation of Relations, informally known as the Brussels Agreement (Serbian: Бриселски споразум / Briselski sporazum, Albanian: Marrëveshja e Brukselit), is an agreement to normalize relations between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo. The agreement, negotiated and concluded in Brussels under the auspices of the European Union, was signed on 19 April 2013. Negotiations were led by Serbian prime minister Ivica Dačić and Kosovo prime minister Hashim Thaçi, mediated by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. The government of Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as a sovereign state, but began normalising relations with the government of Kosovo as a result of the agreement. In Belgrade, the agreement was criticized by protestors as a convalidation of Kosovo independence.