The threats of a man offended to the core

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić addressed the supporters gathered in Nis on Saturday, May 17. But the question is what in that speech was addressed to his supporters and what to his opponents. Also, after the decision of the Appellate Court in Novi Sad to transfer three Novi Sad activists from the Klisa prison to house arrest, on Tuesday, the president joined the "Informer" TV program by phone. The question now is whether his speech in Niš can be interpreted beyond the key he gave during his nearly hour-long telephone tirade on "Informer".

REVENGE FOR MARCH

"On the twenty-first of March, some tried to abolish the right to freedom of assembly, speech, dissenting opinion, they tried to abolish democracy, to introduce terror into our country forever", the President of Serbia began his speech. "They tried, dealing with people who were guilty of them just because they disagreed with their views politically, to deal with them cruelly. They not only beat them, but also humiliate them. They didn't care much. They lived, thinking that it was the best and most beautiful thing to terrorize other people. They didn't understand that their colored revolution finally came to an end that evening. Everything was organized with one goal - to destroy Serbia."

One would say that on March 21 in Niš, some riotous maniacs cut and burned dissenters. Time in Serbia flows faster than usual, so March 21 seems like something from the last decade. Let's remember that on that day the President of the Serbian Parliament Ana Brnabić and the resigned Prime Minister Miloš Vučević shot in Niš. Citizens and students in the blockade, revolted and still under the fresh impression of the use of sound weapons at the protest in Belgrade on March 15, pelted local officials with eggs. Soon Vučić himself called from the vicinity of Niš, more precisely from the "Nais" hotel, who "threatened" that he would soon come to Niš. And here he is, almost two months later, the threat has come true. That is, he came. To threaten a little more.

THE THOUGHT OF A DARK MIND

Aleksandar Vučić does not understand, or pretends not to understand, the simple fact - there are people in Serbia who no longer want him in power. It is easier for him to believe in colorful revolutions, foreign influence, ghosts and ghosts, than in a simple common fact: one cannot be in power forever. "Now I'm going to explain to you, so that you understand why they had to destroy Serbia. When they saw a few years ago that Serbia was doing best during covid, that it was growing the fastest both during and after covid, and when it became clear to all of them in Europe and the world that it was going that way, especially some in the region, why would it suit them? The balance that they all learned is changing. The operation to destroy Serbia has been prepared for a long time, investments have been made for a long time, not in our schools and universities but against them, but within our system. And against our judicial system, the prosecution, for a long time and a lot of money was invested in the media in Serbia, which became a real platform of foreign influence for the overthrow of Serbia, huge money, billions of euros were invested in the overthrow of Serbia."

All of the above was said by Vučić. Now, the problem in the internal logic of this presentation is that Vučić cannot decide who gave those imaginary billions. Namely, he accuses USAID, and brags about the funds that Serbia received from the European Union for the construction of roads and hospitals, and then says that Europe is jealous of us because we managed very well during the covid pandemic. From European couples, he says, the best maternity hospital in the country will be built in Nis, so that our women do not give birth in inhumane conditions. This month marks thirteen years of the Serbian Progressive Party's rule, so it is appropriate to ask why they are only building a maternity hospital in 2025 and what they have been waiting for until now. But Vučić does not mention that, but reminds that "the previous ones" brought only one foreign investor to this part of Serbia, the "Benneton" factory, and that investor withdrew this year, and all his others, so that's how great he is. But the foreign factor is jealous and wants to overthrow him.

THERE ARE FEW CHILDREN, AND THERE ARE FEW ANTICHRISTS

photo: ap photo

He will no longer listen to student demands. The requirements no longer exist. Instead of demands, the students will be given choices in which he will clean them up.

This part of the speech is extremely interesting and multi-layered because it actually contains some truth. Namely, he really will not hear about the requests, because the requests were not even addressed to him. Now we see that the message of the students in the blockade that he is not competent to fulfill the demands really hit him to the core and is still hitting him. He would forgive, and probably did, every egg thrown at local SNS officials, every graffiti, shout, every blockade. But the fact that he is not in charge of something is more difficult for him than anything else.

And there we have the first point of intersection between the speech in Nis and the inclusion on "Informer", in which he repeated that there are no demands and that for him there are only those demands that he personally delivered on April 11 at the rally in Belgrade. It is not known to whom, he did not emphasize, but these demands boil down to the fact that the prosecution does as he says and that RTS reports as he says.

But the bottom line is that he is now throwing himself around like a spoiled child on the floor of the store because his mom won't buy him chocolate. The difference is that the child is harmless. The similarity, apart from the behavior, is reflected in the fact that both Vučić and the child are reacting, and that is one of the major victories of the protests that have been going on in Serbia since November 2024. Aleksandar Vučić, namely, after more than a decade in power, for the first time no longer dictates political processes, but reacts to them. And that's bad, in every sense: neither does he tolerate well, nor does he cope well.

And the fact that the demands no longer exist is also true in another sense. The moment when the students in the blockade demanded extraordinary parliamentary elections, they said: this government is obstructing the fulfillment of the demands and that is why it must be changed in the elections. Here, Vučić is again a step behind the students in his reaction to them - they, not him, put aside their demands. Namely, the students were the first to say that they were (temporarily) giving up on the original four demands, because there was no one to fulfill them.

RIDING THE RADICAL WAVE

"The wolf survived the winter, but he remembered well who wanted to destroy Serbia! Next comes the question of responsibility for both, and you will not be able to escape from that responsibility. We might be able to forgive you for destroying Serbia, but we will not forgive or forget you for destroying our children. You will answer for that, Serbia's good time is yet to come. There is no turning away from responsibility, there is not and there will not be," are the words with which Vučić ended his speech.

If there is anyone wondering if this is a threat, let's make it clear: it is, it is a threat, and how.

Now, a wolf is not a dachshund, so it barks in vain. This one knows what he's talking about. He very precisely named university professors as "enemies":

"You won't get a dinar until you start working. Go back to college, and when you earn - you'll be paid. You can swim across the Atlantic, but there's no money." And more about the university professors: "I won't say anything bad about them tonight, and I would say the worst about those professors who come to negotiate with Prime Minister Đura Matsut. I give him great respect for his enormous effort and for being able to listen to them."

Thus, Aleksandar Vučić's war against the university continues for a long time, and the president is intensifying it. On Tuesday, the "wolf" gained a new enemy: the judiciary. That is why in this short text we constantly mention the president's participation in TV "Informer". In addition to taking off his gloves in the war he waged against the university, the President of Serbia also supported the President of the Serbian Progressive Party, Miloš Vučević, so that supporters of the ruling party block the Appellate Court in Novi Sad from Monday, the same one that was blocked by students and citizens until Tuesday. The reason - that the four thugs who broke the jaw of a female student with bats in January should also be released from custody.

This is all very crazy. That attack was the formal reason for Miloš Vucevic to resign as prime minister in January of this year and for the government to fall. But the crazier thing is that the President of Serbia on Tuesday announced the blockade of the court for Monday. I guess until they bribe and gather enough fake supporters, because the real ones are falling away.

Where to after Niš? Vučić announced Kragujevac and other major cities in Serbia. Did he and his regime consolidate? No, actually, they don't come to their senses, but they are all the more dangerous. In short: they are finished, but everyone else should watch out for them.