Following several nights of protests across multiple Serbian cities, President Aleksandar Vučić addressed the nation this week in a 52-minute speech. Not a single minute was devoted to police brutality, and while he answered questions, he avoided topics that could portray him unfavorably.
Minutes before the address, protocol staff scrambled to provide five additional chairs. Despite bringing the country’s police leadership, Vučić spoke largely alone, beginning with commentary on Putin and Trump, before making one of two key announcements at the 40-minute mark:
“The question is when someone will be killed… Who have they decided to kill tonight… I only fear that someone will be killed… They have nothing left but to start killing people,” the President stated.
Over the past nine months, Vučić’s strategy toward protesting students and citizens has shifted constantly, yet one element remains unchanged – intimidation.
DS leader Srđan Milivojević responded:
“I tell the citizens of Serbia not to fear this frightened man… He threatens someone will lose their head in the coming days, showing a man who has decided to move from a baton to a pistol.”
Vučić also indicated the government would take a few days’ pause, acknowledging he lacked the energy for all ongoing street unrest. He promised that “peace and order” would eventually be restored.
“The next 3–4 days may seem as though the state has withdrawn… In six, seven days… you will see Serbia’s full determination; we will use everything at our disposal,” Vučić said.
While extraordinary measures would require parliamentary approval, Vučić suggested other actions could be taken within a week.
Milivojević emphasized resistance:
“Vučić, you don’t have enough bullets to overcome the freedom within us. Serbia will not be governed by whoever has a bigger gun or longer baton, but by those who dare to step forward and say, ‘This is our country.’”
Questions at the conference were restricted to pro-regime media, which did not pursue inquiries about police violence or the origin of pyrotechnic attacks. When N1 asked about police accountability in Vrbas, Vučić replied:
“Shame on you for everything you do.”
