The Serbian opposition party issues an unsparing condemnation, accusing the President of acting like a “mafia boss” by trying to export paramilitary and parapolice structures into a neighboring European state.
The Democratic Party (DS) of Serbia has launched a staggering political counter-offensive against President Aleksandar Vučić, accusing him of orchestrating a failed “hybrid operation” to destabilize Montenegro. In a blistering official press release issued on Thursday, June 4, 2026, the long-standing pro-European opposition party labeled the border infiltration scandal a massive national security blunder—arguing it represents a far more perilous flashpoint than the deadly 2023 armed standoff in Banjska, Kosovo.
The DS did not mince words, demanding that Vučić immediately step down from office to face direct criminal prosecution for risking regional war on the eve of the high-stakes EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat.
“The Democratic Party expresses deep regret that the man who, to the misfortune of Serbian citizens, still holds the office of President, attempted to export criminal, paramilitary, and parapolice structures into Montenegro,” the party’s leadership stated. “With this act, he has endangered regional peace, humiliated Serbia, and severely damaged relations between two of the closest, brotherly states in the region.”
The Contrast of Escalations: Banjska vs. Tivat
By explicitly framing the Tivat airport deployment as an operation “more dangerous than Banjska,” the Democratic Party is elevating the political stakes. The September 2023 Banjska shootout was a localized, armed insurgent clash inside contested territory. In contrast, the DS argues that the Tivat incident represents a direct, state-sponsored cross-border subversion targeting a sovereign, internationally recognized NATO member and frontline EU candidate state.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ The Opposition's Assessment: Escalation Profiles │
├───────────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────┤
│ THE BANJSKA CLASH (2023) │ THE TIVAT OPERATION (2026) │
├───────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ • Localized armed insurgent conflict │ • State-backed cross-border │
│ in northern Kosovo. │ covert subversion. │
├───────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ • Target: Local police forces within │ • Target: A sovereign NATO │
│ contested administrative boundaries.│ member and frontline EU country.│
├───────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ • Result: Severe geopolitical freeze, │ • Result: Total intelligence │
│ but contained inside Kosovo. │ exposure by France's DGSE. │
└───────────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────┘
“The Regime is Not Serbia”
As the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) intensifies a retaliatory border-screening campaign to harass Montenegrin citizens entering Serbia, the Democratic Party made a direct, public appeal to Podgorica to decouple the actions of the ruling elite from the will of ordinary Serbian citizens.
The DS strongly condemned the state-run media apparatus for launching a coordinated smear campaign designed to weaponize the upcoming summer tourism season by falsely painting Montenegro as a hostile, unsafe destination for Serbian vacationers.
“The Vučić regime is not Serbia,” the statement forcefully cleared up. “Serbia does not want conflicts with Montenegro, it does not want the export of criminals and parapolice structures, and it does not want to be represented before the region and Europe by a man who behaves like a mafia boss.”
A Call for Criminal Accountability
The opposition concluded its manifesto with a vision for a post-SNS future, promising that once the country is “freed from the clutches of Vučić’s mafia,” bilateral relations will naturally return to a foundation of mutual respect and European values.
However, they emphasized that structural reconciliation cannot begin without immediate legal consequences for the current head of state. Because the failed operation directly involved utilizing state assets—including a chartered Air Serbia flight—to transport nearly 100 known violent offenders into a diplomatic summit zone, the DS maintains that Vučić must be held both politically and criminally liable for state capture and endangering continental security.
