Vučić's pension increase announcement: Legal harmonization turned into a political advertisement

Pensions because of the "personal insistence" of the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić be increased on December 1 of this year instead of January 1 of the following year, but that increase, despite Vučić's effort to present it as his personal, incredibly great success, is actually a legally prescribed adjustment of pensions to wages and prices.

Vučić announced the increase a few days ago in a video message on his Instagram profile, in his own way - with unavoidable pathos, while simulating the rule of law.

"I want to tell our pensioners and thank the Government that it seems the Government has accepted my idea that the increase in pensions will not take place from January 1, but from December 1, a month earlier," said Vučić at the time.

From his message, one could again see his insatiable need to present himself to the citizens of Serbia, this time to pensioners, as a kind of inviolable savior, because the Government of Serbia accepted "his idea".

In addition, as innumerable times before, Vučić tried to convince the citizens of Serbia with the message that the government "accepted" something that the government is really asking something, even though it is clear to anyone who wants to see that Vučić himself drafted it, that it it is up to him alone and he does not have any autonomy in decision-making.

That simulation of the rule of law was embellished the very next day by Finance Minister Siniša Mali, who stated that "at the request of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, the Government found a way to pay the increased pensions for the next year from December 1."

A forgotten promise from March

Mali, not regretting the words of praise for Vučić, but also the words of self-praise, pointed out that this is "great news" and that the Government "already knows" that the increase in pensions for the next year will be "perhaps even 11 percent".

Burdened by daily affairs and scandals, the citizens of Serbia probably forgot that in March, Mali announced an extraordinary increase in pensions between August and October, which did not happen.

Pensioners, however, are aware that Vučić's pompous announcement is nothing more than unscrupulous and brazen self-promotion.

"More political advertising than concern for pensioners"

The president of the Union of Retired Military Personnel of Serbia, Jovan Tamburić, told the daily "Danas" that the background of the story "is more political advertising than concern for pensioners".

"The news was announced in such a way as to emphasize the idea and merit of the president at a time when he is allegedly being threatened with assassination, which he is calling for with the aim of gaining political support for the president who, despite everything, takes care of pensioners," Tamburić said.

He reminded that the adjustment of pensions by about 11 percent is prescribed by law, based on statistical data on the growth of wages and prices in the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024 compared to the year before them.

"Once again, pensioners will live with current inflation in the second half of this year and inflation throughout 2025," warned Tamburić.

The Association of Trade Unions of Retired Military Personnel of Serbia, the day after Vučić's announcement about increasing pensions, publicly asked Vučić when he will propose to the Government that the state return everything that was "taken from pensioners since 2012", with the assessment that they are witnessing that all his ideas are being adopted by the Government .

"You have thanked the pensioners so many times for the successful financial consolidation that it is your turn to return what was stolen." "To begin with, you could increase pensions so that the average pension is at least 58 percent of the average salary as it was in 2012 because pensioners cannot otherwise survive the highest food prices in Europe," the association said.