While the ruling coalition has announced a three-day series of manifestations across the country from June 26 to 28, the central pillar of the pro-regime campaign will be the massive rally “Serbia, One Family” (Srbija, jedna porodica), scheduled for June 27 in Belgrade. The Chairman of the SNS Executive Board, Darko Glišić, has already reserved a massive perimeter in the capital’s center—stretching from the National Assembly and Nikola Pašić Square all the way to Republic Square—with the clear intention of orchestrating “one of the largest, if not the largest, rallies ever held.”
However, despite aggressive media promotion, political analysts assess that citizens will not hear anything substantially new. The entire event is being interpreted as yet another “repackaging of old content into new boxes,” aimed at politically consolidating the regime ahead of potential snap parliamentary elections in the autumn (likely in October or November).
Political Illusion: ‘Voting’ on Priorities and Hiding the Prime Minister Candidate
As one of the main “attractions” of the rally, the government has announced an improvised voting system where citizens at promotional stands will choose 5 out of 10 offered topics that they consider crucial for the country’s future. According to Marko Vujić, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences (FPN), this move represents a classic domain of political illusion.
- Reanimating Trust: The regime is attempting to create the illusion that it “listens to the ordinary people” in order to restore the level of blank-check trust seen during the 2014–2019 period. Vujić believes this is impossible due to a significantly altered electorate in Serbia and the powerful presence of a new political rival—the student movement.
- A Strategy Lacking Names: Vujić points out that it is highly unlikely Aleksandar Vučić will announce the candidate for Prime Minister at the rally. For the past year and a half, Vučić’s statements have become increasingly ambiguous as he orients himself ad hoc according to public opinion polls and the ratings of the student movement. By locking in a specific name for the mandate, he would eliminate the possibility of reclaiming the Prime Minister position himself following a resignation or presidential election, proving that the SNS can no longer anticipate or control internal domestic events more than a month in advance.
Shifting the Narrative: From ‘The People’ to ‘Citizens’
FPN Professor Bojan Vranić notices an interesting shift in the communication and marketing strategy of the ruling party. In the public invitations to the rally, the word “citizens” (građani) is being used instead of the traditional Progressive terminology of “the people” (narod).
A Subtle Distinction: In political discourse, the term “the people” is usually tied to direct elections (the president), whereas “citizens” is a concept more closely linked to parliament and representative democracy. Vranić concludes that this focus is deliberately aimed at undecided voters—those who state in polls that they trust both Vučić and the students leading the blockades.
The rally will also serve to officially unveil the official name of the upcoming election list, campaign slogans, and a segment of the pre-election program symbolically titled the “Plan for the Future.” A critical political question will also be whether the SPS (Socialist Party of Serbia) has finally broken and agreed to run on a joint list with the SNS or will compete independently.
Megalomania as a Response to Crisis: A One-Ton Flag
This gathering closely mirrors last year’s three-day assembly “We Won’t Give Up Serbia” (held from April 11 to 13), which was organized by the now-forgotten Movement for the People and the State. That assembly served as an identical defensive regrouping for the Progressives following the massive student blockade protest on March 15.
To distract from mounting domestic pressures, the upcoming event relies heavily on technological spectacles, drone shows, robotics, and extreme national symbolism:
Evolution of Regime Iconography at Rallies:
[Last April's Assembly] --> Serbian Flag: 200m long, 10m wide, weighing 400 kg.
[This June 27 Rally] --> Serbian Flag: 500m long, covering 4,000 m², weighing roughly 1 TON (carried by over 1,000 people).
Vučić himself stated that the main speaking program will not last long, claiming the focus is purely on “a message of unity.” Given the expected summer heat, the regime is organizing tens of thousands of water bottles, water trucks, seating for the elderly, and dedicated medical teams, well aware that the imagery of flawless mass support must be seamlessly executed as they prepare the ground for a new electoral race.
