Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, under increasing pressure from mass student-led protests, chose a controversial way to mark the opening of a new highway: by celebrating with the sounds of infamous nationalist music.
During the ceremony, a song titled “A Small Boat Sails the Sea” was played, drawing significant attention due to its well-known associations. The song is performed by Baja Mali Knindža, a singer notorious for his ultranationalist lyrics that glorify the Četnik movement and its World War II war criminal leader, Draža Mihailović.
One part of the song goes: “A mother went looking for her son, then reported to General Draža…” — a direct reference to the same figure many Serbs view as a national hero, but who remains infamous in the region for crimes committed during the war.
This act comes at a politically tense moment for Vučić, as large-scale student protests have taken over streets across Serbia, expressing outrage at corruption, authoritarianism, and electoral manipulation. Critics have labeled the president’s behavior as an attempt to distract the public and consolidate his ultranationalist base.
A video shared on social media shows Vučić handing 2,000 Serbian dinars to a musician with a trembling hand, allegedly to pay for the song — while those around him remain silent, stunned by the scene. The video’s narrator sarcastically notes that others, like high-ranking official Darko Glišić (DJV), threw in €200 just to prove they could outdo each other in showing off their “corrupt generosity.”
This incident further inflames opposition anger, highlighting the contrast between a protesting youth calling for democratic change and a leadership clinging to nationalist nostalgia.
