Neither peace, nor stability – Vučić

 

Unrest at home

 

The protests that began in November 2024, after the collapse of the canopy in Novi Sad, were not extinguished by the repression that was visible at every step. Over the summer, a new phase of suppressing civic resistance began – both propaganda and physical violence escalated, we noted hundreds of arrests, and watched how police brutality only fueled greater public outrage.

Although President Vučić repeatedly announced the end of the protests, that end never came. Students and citizens refuse to give up their demand for snap parliamentary elections. From one protest to the next, the response of heavily armed police forces has only intensified – cordons, armored vehicles, tear gas, and officers who, judging by disturbing footage, do not stop themselves at a single baton strike. Despite the capture of most mainstream media, these images reach the public through social media, as well as international audiences.

The boundaries are also shifting in the President’s threats and in his calls to the prosecution to act as the authorities believe it should. After the protests in Novi Sad on September 5, President Vučić stated: “I would call on prosecutors, who pretend to be naive and clumsy, not seeing what is happening, to take appropriate measures in accordance with the law and the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. Because soon, we will start taking those measures in a different way.”

In the same city, in mid-August, on the days when police cordons stood not only in front of SNS premises, but also in front of their supporters , shields turned toward the citizens, President Vučić declared that the streets of Novi Sad would “soon be cleared of thugs and killers”.

At the beginning of July, the President, constitutionally the President of all citizens, said on TV Pink: “Do you really think we cannot organize an attack on their homes? We could destroy all their party offices across Serbia within an hour. All of them! Every single one, from the first to the last, within an hour”.

After such statements, accusations of state subversion under foreign influence, labeling and targeting protesters and media as terrorists, came those familiar words about peace and stability, and even calls for dialogue.

 

Intimidation with war and weapons

 

A public long accustomed to hearing about imaginary enemies in the region, “Serb-haters” who want to see us “on our knees”, the President has now begun to frighten the public with regional military alliances. In the most influential media, we could hear the President describe the military alliance between Slovenia and Croatia as “hostile” toward Serbia, and express concern about the absence of any EU or NATO reaction. Vučić did not stop there; he mentioned a military cooperation agreement between Zagreb, Pristina, and Tirana, then added:

“They were always, dear citizens of Serbia, smarter, and in the end, stronger than us. Stronger, not because they were braver or more courageous, but because they had a greater power behind them – sometimes the Germans, sometimes the Americans, sometimes both. I only wish to tell you, dear citizens of Serbia, that on September 20 you will be able to see the strength of the Serbian army, and one more thing: we will be wise enough, courageous enough to preserve peace, but if they attack us, we will be stronger than them.”

Appearing on TV Pink on September 6, the President emphasized that “similar alliances were made in almost the same way before the Great War” and that “we are ready to defend our country”:

“I want us to strengthen our army, for people to understand that we are ready to defend our country if we are attacked in any way, but we do not want any wars, any conflicts, nor do we even think about it, but it is clear that others are forming military alliances against us.”

 

Dodik and Republika Srpska – A question the President never misses

 

After Milorad Dodik, as President of Republika Srpska, was sentenced to one year in prison and a six-year ban from public office for defying the decisions of the High Representative, the President of Serbia said: “Since 2008, Serbia has not been in such a difficult situation, following the confirmation of a sentence for the President of Republika Srpska.”

Because of an issue that concerns an entity of another state, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a session of the Serbian National Security Council was held in Belgrade. According to media reports, the decision was made that Serbia would not recognize the verdict against Milorad Dodik, and that this decision is binding on all institutions of the Republic of Serbia.

Presenting the conclusions of the National Security Council, President Vučić stated that Serbia strongly condemns the verdict against the head of the Bosnian entity Republika Srpska, labeling it political and undemocratic.

While the message after the Council’s session was that, as the Danas wrote, the ruling jeopardized regional security, pro-government mainstream media wrote about “attacks on Serbs and Serbia,” with one headline even declaring: “The survival of the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina is in question”.

 

Moscow, Beijing, and the message to “European scum”

 

“I am grateful to the members of the European Parliament from… what was it, Ivica, from the Green Party, from where else? Some scum gathered there. Scum that cannot govern even in their own countries, who have shown us their place, and how we must fight against them, those who were tonight in Novi Sad. (…) Those who came to destroy Serbia from abroad must know that we will oppose them more strongly than they imagined,” said, on September 5, the President of a state that is a candidate for EU membership.

In those same days, President Vučić, in the company of autocrats, thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for “the friendship and support that China continuously provides to our people and our country”. After meeting with Putin, the President emphasised on his Instagram account that Serbia is “the only country in Europe that has not imposed any sanctions on the Russian Federation”, adding: “I am convinced that our bilateral cooperation can be further advanced and strengthened to the highest level”.

Commitment to the European path thus remains a dead letter, cemented by accusations and insults directed at MEPs.

 

Foreign media on the President: Autocrat, cynic, danger to the region

 

For weeks, even months, the crisis in Serbia has been a topic in foreign media. In mid-August, the Financial Times published an article titled “Time to stop indulging Serbia’s authoritarian President”. The Guardian described President Vučić as an “autocratic” and a “cynical”, whose presence in the politics of the western Balkans is “malign”.

Later that same month, as Deutsche Welle reported, German press covering Serbia carried the assessment: “A President who cannot ensure stability even in his own country poses a danger to the entire region”.

According to DW, the weekly Spiegel interviewed Vedran Džihić, a political scientist at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, who, speaking about President Vučić, stated: “He has failed to scare the people. There are two scenarios: either new elections are called, or there will be a complete escalation of violence”.

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“Peace. Stability. Vučić” remains, therefore, a powerful slogan – but only in the eyes of the Progressives and in the tabloids loyal to them.