Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said he was surprised by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s reaction to questions from Austrian journalists during his first official visit to Belgrade.
According to Kleine Zeitung, the meeting started as a regular diplomatic engagement, but the tone shifted when the first questions focused on months-long anti-corruption protests and Serbia’s stalled progress toward EU accession.
Visibly irritated, Vučić interrupted: “I am not a dictator, as you always portray me” — repeating the statement twice to the visiting journalists.
Chancellor Stocker later admitted he was taken aback by Vučić’s emotional response:
“I told him that I face critical questions every day. One must endure them — that is freedom of the press.”
The Austrian outlet noted that Vučić’s performance underscored why he is becoming an increasingly problematic partner for the EU — citing rule of law shortcomings, the frozen dialogue with Kosovo, and his refusal to align Serbia’s foreign policy with the EU, including the imposition of sanctions against Russia.
Serbia has not opened any new chapters or clusters in accession talks for four years, giving the impression that EU membership remains a distant prospect under Vučić’s leadership.
Since November last year, when 16 people died in the collapse of a newly renovated railway station roof in Novi Sad, a wave of anti-corruption protests has continued to shake the country.
