The epilogue of the one-hour blockade of roads and bridges throughout Serbia on Saturday, November 27: occasional skirmishes with the police, clashes with supporters of the SNS armed with sticks, about twenty protesters who were detained and soon released, stopping traffic on several vital sections and the encouraging feeling of environmental activists that they the organizationally complex idea succeeded. The "alert block" action was successful.
The question is: What next, after the "warning"? Both citizens dissatisfied with the adoption of the Law on Expropriation, the Law on Referendum and in general everything that directly or indirectly has to do with rolling out the red carpet for the arrival of Rio Tinto, and the government gathered around Aleksandar Vučić, took irreconcilable positions.
Environmental organizations and parties have announced that they will repeat the action next Saturday by having the activists go in their motor vehicles, where they should go, and stop them on strategically important roads, where they should be supported by activist infantry.
The government took its well-known position that "the minority terrorizes the majority", that "the people of Đilas are harassing the citizens by arrogantly walking in the middle of the streets", while the members of the SNS "pass them in a proper and polite way while moving on the sidewalk" and symbolizing the "decent" Serbia led by Vucic. The withdrawal of controversial laws after such statements, which would render further blockades meaningless, is unlikely. It would send a bad signal to investors. And a sign of weakness.
As always in these situations, the question is how far the protesters are ready to go and how much support they will have. If environmental organizations abandon what they announced, they will lose credibility. If they repeat the blockades, they would have to count on much more massive support from citizens dissatisfied with this government, because it cannot be ruled out that the Andrićevo Venac will come to the conclusion that highway blockades cannot be tolerated and that the situation will become radicalized.
Citizens' response to the blockade action on Saturday was relatively modest, in contrast to the considerable effect that was achieved.
The government has several options.
A demonstration exercise for one of them took place in Šabac, where orthodox progressives with hoods on their heads, sticks and hammers attacked environmental activists while the police watched. There was also an excavator, if there was a need to clear out some private vehicles standing in the way of buses with SNS members who went to Belgrade to click Vučić. There are pinks and informers to present the attacks of the batterers on protesting citizens as a conflict between "Djilasov" and "decent citizens" who, well, the movie broke because of so much tycoon arrogance.
Another option is a comprehensive action by the police, the gendarmerie, and special police units with the order to use batons and hammers where and who is needed, bringing out into the streets those hummers and other armored vehicles that have already intimidated the citizens of Belgrade. Pinks and informers would present it as an intervention against hooligans for the sake of establishing order and peace.
The third option is the tried-and-true recipe of silence and ignoring, avoiding conflict until the pointless protests have died down. Citizens who consume controlled media, potential SNS voters, would hardly notice what is happening. That tactic was applied on Saturday. Thus, during the break of the live broadcast of the SNS Academy, TV Pink published a 34-second news item in the National Daily, in which it talks about a handful of "fake", "visibly aggressive" environmentalists and "arrogant Đilasovs" who are blocking the "Belgrade- Niš" and harass the citizens.
This tactic worked well during the civil protests after the beating of Borko Stefanović. But these current protests, unlike then, do not have any general demands, such as for the government to relinquish power, but a very specific demand that Vučić not sign the disputed laws, and then withdraw them. And the blockade of the highway and vital highways still reverberates far more than a walk through the central city streets.
For Vučić and SNS, several months before the election, road blockades would be unpleasant, both without and with the use of state or parastate force. They want those images of street protests that disrupt the idyllic notion of an adored Leader enjoying the undivided support of his people to tour the world's metropolises. But also home towns and palanquins and perhaps motivate demotivated, opposition-minded citizens.
