Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić responded to The Guardian’s coverage of recent protests in Serbia by submitting a letter, which was published both online and in the print edition of the British daily, within the section reserved for letters to the editor, Nedeljnik reported.
In his letter, titled “Serbia Cannot Accept Violent Protests”, Vučić argued that the majority of “unregistered gatherings” were small in scale, later becoming violent, and that police actions remained limited and restrained. He also stated that parliamentary elections will be held before the 2027 deadline.
Speaking to N1 Television about Vučić’s letter, international relations analyst Mirko Dautović described the move as a “weak attempt at PR obfuscation”.
“I would say that The Guardian’s editorial staff recognized this very clearly. It was first published only yesterday, in Saturday’s print edition, in the weekend supplement on page seven, in the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column, beneath photos from a farmers’ market showing carrots. That indicates it was published merely as a formality. It is humiliating that a president’s letter is printed in such a place,” Dautović said.
The letter was also published online on Friday, August 29, in the same section, below an illustration related to a Harvest Festival in Oxfordshire.
