Vučić arrives, pushes the board onto the wheels

In the gift catalog that President Aleksandar Vučić received since he was in office, there are ten chessboards - marble, carved, this and that, there is even one basketball tactical board.

But the famous Chinese electronic board is nowhere to be found. That is, an "interactive display", as it is actually advertised.

On that miracle, Vučić tirelessly, finely and in Cyrillic, writes successes in the television studios, average salaries in the region, exposes the scheme of conspiracies against him and Serbia.

"This is my board, the Chinese bought it for me, I don't recommend it because of the price, it is very expensive, otherwise it is excellent, it serves me a lot," he once said on RTS.

He says he thought it would cost five hundred euros so he would do the shopping himself, but he was shocked when they told him the price.

Where did the board come from?

The Presidency did not respond to the inquiry of our newsletter Medjuvreme about the board. Neither who gave it to the president nor what model it is.

Apparently, it is the Huawei IdeaHub with a diagonal of 86 inches. When the president was "bought by the Chinese" it was more expensive, today it can be found for around two thousand euros.

According to insiders from the television stations where the president is often a guest, his cabinet only announces that Vučić is arriving with everything on board. Just like they only announce that it's coming at all - and there's no question about it.

The board is brought in by van, probably from the Presidency. The board has wheels, so it is pushed to the studio. The board is, therefore, mobile like the president, it reaches everywhere.

An interview is normally a boring form of television - two heads talking. That's why even the directors don't hate it when the president adjusts the board, then stands up, the frame spreads out, and then it's like something happens.

But what's happening?

What is the board for?

"Vučić cracked the code for infinite power in a game called Serbia. One aspect of that is addressing the people," says Mihailo Tešić, editor at the "Kompas" portal.

It is important here, he tells Medjuvreme, that he "acts as if he knows more than the rest of us - but that he doesn't act like a smartass". And that's where the board has its function.

"Vučić's image and performance are characterized by a certain intellectualism, dosed in such a way as not to repel an ordinary person with elementary school, but to instill confidence in him that Vučić is someone who 'knows where the devil sleeps.' Because the president must also know how to defend Kosovo and how to build buildings and how to fight inflation," adds Tešić.

As a teacher

To that end, Vučić speaks slowly, as an authority, he spills trivial information. When he brings the board, he never uses its features – graphics, animations, videos – but just writes by hand.

"An ordinary school blackboard can be used for that," says one of our interlocutors.

But, according to Tešić, that is partly the point. The president has some mystical miracle of technique, but he does not want to overburden older, less educated and loyal voters.

"He writes by hand, like a teacher." So not really a teacher, God forbid a professor, but like an old school teacher, who teaches all subjects and is an unquestionable authority. At least for the older generations, who are the backbone of the voting body in Serbia."

The side effects are devastating in more ways than one. Let's say, Šapić and the government's chief media official Vučićević are now copying that with the blackboard. And that could be too much for this kind of audience.