Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has removed from the Presidential Office the Serbian flag he wore during the United Nations General Assembly session that adopted the Srebrenica genocide resolution in May 2024.
Vučić announced the move on social media, posting a video in which he displays the flag and explains why he decided to take it with him following the October 25 parliamentary elections, in which his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) lost power after 14 years.
“I decided to take with me the flag of Serbia that I wore during the struggle at the United Nations, when we managed to defeat the initiative of the world’s most powerful countries to declare our people genocidal,” Vučić wrote.
He said he would return the flag to state institutions only when he was confident it would be treated with respect and would not be destroyed.
In the video, Vučić also accused the student-led protest movement, which he and his supporters refer to as the “blockaders,” of carrying out an operation called “Cleaning Serbia.” He claimed that murals depicting Saint Sava, Saint Peter of Cetinje and Saint George had been removed in recent days.
“That is cleaning. Cleaning away what, as they say, should not belong to Serbia,” Vučić said.
He added that he had therefore decided not to leave the flag behind. The cloth also bears the voting figures from the UN General Assembly resolution.
“This flag is also for history. I now understand that it would have been cleaned away if I had not brought it here,” he said, adding that he would return it to its “proper place” when state institutions were under the control of people who respected Serbian values.
The Srebrenica resolution
The UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on May 23, 2024, designating July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.
The resolution received 84 votes in favor, 19 against and 68 abstentions. Vučić wrapped himself in the Serbian flag immediately after the vote.
The resolution did not declare the Serbian people collectively responsible for genocide. It condemned denial of the Srebrenica genocide and attempts to glorify those convicted of it, while establishing an annual day of remembrance.
Vučić resigned as Serbia’s president in late September in order to position himself as a candidate for prime minister in the snap parliamentary elections. His party subsequently lost the election, ending its 14-year hold on power, according to the source.
