Military parade The "Power of Unity" held on September 20 went as it went. It was evident that it was an event designed to please the ruler who was counting his last days on the throne. In the context of the immediate political future of Serbia, more important than the parade is the session of the Council for Cooperation of Serbia and Republika Srpska in an expanded composition held on the same day. If someone doesn't know which one, the one where the president of Serbia is Aleksandar Vučić yelled at the prime minister Gyuru Matsuta.
"Djuro, I am not satisfied with the engagement of people in the Government and I will tell you that to your face. I don't have to tell you that I know how much time people spend in the Government. It's a shame. That's all I have to tell you," said Vučić at that session, held in the Palace of Serbia. He asked the ministers to be more involved and to work harder, stating that on average 1,2 ministers are on the ground every day, not 16. "Much more engagement, much more effort and work is needed. Don't live for another day to pass, but for something big to be done," Vučić pointed out.
NEITHER DOCTOR NOR PROFESSOR
Aleksandar Vučić addressed the power holder who is above him, because the prime minister, at least according to the Constitution of Serbia, is a more powerful political figure than the president. However, Vučić is stronger than Macut, whom he did not address as "professor", or "doctor", or even as "Mr. Macut", but only Đuro. It took five months for Vučić to feel comfortable enough to humiliate the Prime Minister publicly, in front of the cameras and in front of Milorad Dodik. Let us remind you that Macut came to this position in April after the resignation of Miloš Vučević in January of this year, and the Government of Serbia fell.
It was immediately clear that the prime minister would be a puppet figure. And in the next three months, it became even more clear because Macut did not make a single statement to the media for a full 77 days in his new position. He advertised on the 77th day for the Russian agency TAS.
But what did Vučić's dismissal mean? Actually, nothing new. One of the important elements of the technology of his rule is the mistreatment of associates. Let's remember the floods of 2014. As soon as he became the Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić found himself in a crisis situation due to floods. One of the endangered cities was Šabac. During that period, Vučić issued orders at the meetings of the National Security Council to "defend Šabac with all forces", to go out on the embankments, to organize volunteers, evacuations... At that time, the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces was General Ljubiša Diković. Vučić shouted at him: "Diković, if Šabac falls, you know what to do!"
Sabac did not fall, and Diković did not commit harakiri either, but retired four years later. However, Zoran Drobnjak, director of JP Putevi Srbije, came to live. Listing all the examples of Vučić's terrorizing of Drobnjak requires much more space than one newspaper article, but let's just remember this: the year was 2021 and Vučić and his entourage were visiting Sjenica.
"Drobnjak, I can ask you, in the future bring someone with paper and a pen... It's impossible that my cabinet needs to do all this, so please take part of the responsibilities on yourself," said Vučić to the first man of the Roads of Serbia, Zoran Drobnjak, in front of a packed hall, where ministers and directors of public companies answered questions from the locals.
And also: "I know, you didn't go to Čačak for Pakovrač and Preljina, but for the roastery near Brana. I have nothing against it, that's all fine, you need that too, but..."
He didn't finish the sentence, and if he was honest, it would have read: "I'm taking you to a roast afterwards because you allow me to humiliate you in order to raise my own rating." That would be human, although "but I'm raising my rating" is also a likely continuation.
Now it was the turn of Macut, an extremely respectable doctor and professor at the University of Belgrade. He came to be the prime minister on paper, while in reality he is a punching bag that should serve the purposes of Vučić's media and other manipulations. And that, if we judge by the rich experience we have with Vučić, especially comes to the fore when this outgoing ruler is preparing for the elections. Of course, it is irresponsible to claim that the elections are going on and that they are close, but the behavior of Aleksandar Vučić speaks in favor of it: he started campaigning for himself, rather than for the Serbian Progressive Party.
Photo: X/Start-ChangeHUMILIATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT:
Đuro Macut on the windstorm
MIRACULOUS MEASURES AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTION
This August, unprecedented clashes between police and protesters took place in the streets. None of these conflicts were started by the citizens, but by the police. And while the backs and heads of citizens, male and female citizens, male and female students, were shot with batons on the streets of Novi Sad, Belgrade, Valjevo, Užice, Čačak... the leader in his bubble thought of "miraculous measures" that he announced on August 24. Aleksandar Vučić announced the decree by which trade margins will be limited to 20 percent from September 1, and in the largest trade chains they were up to 45,2 percent. He also said that comprehensive measures to improve living standards will follow in the coming period until the end of the year. At the press conference that day, Vučić also announced that laws on trade and consumer protection will be passed in the coming period, while a law on the prohibition of unfair trade practices is expected to be adopted by the end of 2025.
With the announced regulation, margins will be limited for 23 groups of products, that is, about 3000 products, which will apply to 24 companies. Delez, Mercator, Lidl and Univerexport generate 51 percent of the total retail trade, said Vučić, claiming that almost 48 percent of the minimum wage is spent on food and soft drinks. In front of the cameras, he showed baskets containing various products whose prices should be lower.
The first of September came and those discounts did not happen. Moreover, all discounts and promotions that were a regular occurrence until then were canceled in the retail chains.
And then that terrible, indescribable September 5th happened, the day when the protest "Serbia, can we hear you?" was held in Novi Sad. It was supposed to be a protest against police brutality, which reached large proportions in this city a week earlier, when the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, Milivoj Alanović, accompanied by several colleagues, entered the building, changed the locks and threatened the students with disciplinary procedures. Since then, Alanović has been in the building of this educational institution, which, at his request, is provided by the police in full equipment for breaking up demonstrations.
On the other hand, on Monday, DIF dean Patrick Dryd, accompanied by the police and several masked persons, entered the faculty by breaking the windows of the building in the early hours of the morning.
We know what happened on September 5: people were held hostage in the Rectorate building, forced to lie in the meadow, chased against the fence, and then arrested, beaten, stripped naked in the stations... The people who spoke to the media and shared their experiences are still conscious of the trauma and there is every chance that they will need a long time to recover.
And during that time, Vučić is again preparing new, even more "miraculous" measures in his bubble. He announced them on September 21. He announced that from December 1, pensions will be increased by 12,2 percent, so the average will be increased to 485 euros. He added that inflation, according to the projection, will be around 3,5 percent next year, and four percent this year, assessing that pensioners will have a "real increase in the standard of living" with the pension increase, despite inflation. He also reminded that the extraordinary increase in the minimum wage from October 1 will be 9,4 percent, and from January 1 in the amount of 10,1 percent. He added that the minimum salary from January 1 will be 551 euros, and the coverage of the minimum consumer basket by the minimum salary will be 111,5 percent.
And the icing on the cake - legalization for 100 euros. The news resonated like a thunderbolt: President Aleksandar Vučić announced that the state will propose a law on legalization without a complicated procedure that will solve the issue of illegal buildings by the New Year, and the mentioned price of 100 euros will apply to about 70 percent of buildings. Vučić said that there are 4,8 million buildings in Serbia that are used without registration of rights or without a use permit.
"We have 4,8 million illegal buildings in our country. Those people cannot mortgage those buildings, use loans, cannot put them into legal circulation in accordance with the law, cannot dispose of those assets. At the same time, property tax on such buildings is often not paid, where the state also loses," he said. He added that the solutions implemented since 1997 were bad. Now, he did not say what prevented him and his people from solving the problem that dates back to 1997 from 2012 to today. But we are talking about a man who blamed the construction of the 1996 building for the explosion of the "Prokop" Station building, and not the piles of concrete and glass that were piled on top of that construction in the last few years. His merits, responsibility never.
"We will propose a law, which we popularly called 'Finally your own on your own'. Our idea is that with a simple application, without complicated procedures, in digital form, we register all objects and decide on ownership. You send the electronic application by the New Year, the Agency for Spatial Planning will do it in each cadastre, and within 60 days your object is legal", explained Vućić. And then he added: "And the most expensive will be, say, an apartment on Terazije of 200 square meters, for which you pay 1000 euros. It is the most expensive. And the apartment becomes legal and registered. Loans will be more favorable because registered real estate can be used for mortgages, and apartments will become cheaper because real estate that is now illegal will be part of the regulated market."
Anyone who remembers Teleshop commercials from the nineties probably recognizes a similar dramaturgy as in Vučić's speech about legalization for 100 euros. There were popular magic powders that mend holes in clothes and some scalameris that cut potatoes in an hour, and here you send one email and - opalac - a legalized house.
It is interesting that instead of enthusiasm, this produced another effect among the citizens. Part of the citizens are furious because they paid 25 times more than this 100 euros for the legalization of their buildings, while experts say that it is a "set-up for partners", that is, the possibility that "builders" close to the regime legalize all illegally built buildings. The most interesting reaction concerns something that only a year ago no one would have even paid attention to except a narrow circle of experts: legalization will not require a use permit.
Photo: Marija JankovićLEGALIZATION OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTY
PARTY BROTHERHOOD PROPERTY:
Violence against the urban environment
Until November 1 and the fall of the canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad, the public was not interested in this. Today, people are aware that the use permit is a guarantee that our heads are safe on our shoulders if everything is done according to the regulations. Serbian citizens have not been more politically aware and literate for a long time. Today, better than ever, they understand the importance of every document and paper and how it is important for their lives, in every sense: both for the flow of life and for literally staying alive.
That's why these populist measures, no matter how much Vučić insists, have no chance. And the fact that it now seems that he is on some kind of offensive and that he has consolidated, could not be further from the truth. How can a man who offers a house for one hundred euros with one hand and shows the police a sign that he mercilessly attacks the citizens can be consolidated?
FOREIGN POLICY UNDERTAKINGS
And while this text is being written (Tuesday afternoon), Aleksandar Vučić is in New York, where he is faking foreign policy successes. Before the opening of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, he met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and several foreign officials. Towards the end of the day, the president is expecting a meeting with US Secretary of State Mark Rubio, reports Radiotelevision of Serbia. "With Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, President of the Republic of Finland Aleksander Stubb, President of the Czech Republic Peter Pavel, President of the Syrian Arab Republic Ahmed al-Shar and United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, before the opening of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly," Vučić said on his Instagram account.
But that's not worth anything to him either. Because he was kicked out of Florida, so he was in Moscow, and he insulted the members of the European Parliament who happened to be at a protest in Novi Sad. With that, he dissolved the little support of the European Union that he had.
And let's not forget: while he is selling these colorful lies, unprecedented police brutality is happening on the streets of Serbia. The exact number of people arrested since the beginning of the protest is still unknown. No one can even determine the number of people who are currently in prison or house arrest. The image of a student who was brought from detention to his father's funeral in bukagis went around the world.
The only thing that works for him is the lack of coordination between the student movement and the opposition. But, that obstacle is easily solved with a little good will. And then... Well then, God bless you, everyone to the elections.
