Once again, Aleksandar Vučić plays the role of the “compassionate neighbor” this time offering condolences after a deadly fire at a home for the elderly in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. But beneath the carefully worded message lies a familiar pattern: empty words from a leader whose government continues to fuel division in the very region now grieving.
“With deep sadness, I received the news about the tragic fire in the home for the elderly in Tuzla,” Vučić wrote on X, claiming to speak “on behalf of the citizens of Serbia.”
Observers were quick to note the irony. Vučić whose nationalist policies and state-controlled media have spent years undermining Bosnia’s sovereignty now pretends to stand in “solidarity” with its people. For many, his condolences sound more like damage control than genuine empathy.
The Tuzla fire, which took 11 innocent lives and left 35 injured, has devastated the local community. The director, Mirsad Bakalović, resigned immediately a gesture of moral responsibility rarely seen in Vučić’s Serbia, where tragedies are met with propaganda spin, not accountability.
It’s a grim contrast: while Bosnia faces tragedy with dignity and responsibility, Serbia’s leadership hides behind public statements and political theater. Vučić’s “condolences” are less about compassion — and more about cleansing the image of a regime increasingly isolated and distrusted across the Balkans.
