Belgrade is holding its breath for one of the largest protests ever called by the country’s opposition, which has been criticized by President Aleksandar Vučić, who even raised alarms about potential unrest and an attempted coup.
Vučić claimed that through official channels from Russia, he learned that “massive unrest is being prepared in Serbia with the aim of a coup.” According to him, the competent Security and Information Agency (BIA) and experts in the Serbian government are doing their job to maintain order and security. “Those who imagine they will achieve anything by force – will not. Serbia is moving forward relentlessly, it cannot and will not be stopped. No one will ever stop it again. People do not need to worry,” said Vučić.
Before him, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević also warned protesters that “there will be no new October 6” and no one will take power through the streets and violence in Serbia.
“I want to reassure the Serbian public, despite being bombarded literally with an incredible amount of information causing anxiety and concern, that Serbia is a safe and stable country,” said the Prime Minister.
However, the statements of the President and the Prime Minister have been sharply responded to by Serbian opposition leaders, accusing Vučić and Vučević of spewing venom against the ordinary people and inflaming voices for a civil war.
Marinika Tepić, Vice President of the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), declared on the platform X that on the streets, in the protests against lithium mining across Serbia, will be “the most honest people – farmers, workers, intellectuals, athletes…”
“All they want is a healthy future, not Serbia as a mining colony. And you, like enraged beasts, are the ones inciting people against each other through your poisonous bars and calling for a civil war,” Tepić declared.
The leader of the Central Serbian Party (SRCE), Zdravko Ponoš, also stated that the regime is talking about unrest and violence and threatening with a state of emergency.
“Well, we already have a state of emergency, it’s time for normalcy. This is what the people are asking for in the protests. For unrest and the state of emergency, the government relies on the phalanx of (Secretary General of the Government of Serbia) Novak Nedić because it lacks trust in the police. People rely on themselves for a normal state,” said Ponoš.
Meanwhile, Savo Manojlović, campaign director of the Kreni-promeni movement, called on the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ivica Dačić, to ensure that the police respect the law and do not use violence during the protest, and to “stop creating incidents.”
“The last time Ivica Dačić and Vučić engaged in a protest, Ranko Panić tragically died. Dačić was the Minister of Internal Affairs at that time, and Aleksandar Vučić participated in organizing those protests. He showed how much he cared about Ranko Panić, whose death he was politically seeking, by reappointing Dačić as Minister of Police,” he added.
