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42 I Southeast Europe bne August 2020
conflict and weakening the Serbian position just prior to the re-start of talks on July 10, is a tool for reaching that goal.
It can also be seen as hitting two birds with one stone for Russia because slowing down the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue also hurts the US administration that is now, more than ever, keen to solve the dispute and talk to both sides. There has been
a shift in position under the current US administration: Washington now wants to hear Belgrade and takes steps that do not unconditionally support Pristina. This is not good news for Russia that has played this card for years in order to manipulate the Serbian public and blackmail the government. In one sign of this, the US embassy in Serbia issued a statement reacting to the protests saying that they “condemn all violence, including what appeared to us to be coordinated attacks on police seemingly intended to provoke overreactions as well what appeared to be the use of excessive force by police”. This is a rare reaction from the US embassy that doesn’t strictly criticise the government of Serbia.
Another strong sign that the violence was deliberately timed to weaken Serbia’s position at the Paris meeting or prevent Vucic from attending at all was the absence of violence (except for a couple of minor incidents) from the third protest on July 9, when Vucic had already landed in Paris.
The return of violence on July 11 also implied that Russia may have its fingers in it. Among the hooligans that, again, were stoning the parliament building and breaking its windows, was a son of Petar Skundric, former adviser of Ivica Dacic, minister of foreign affairs and head of the SNS’s junior partner the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), which has close relations with Russia. According
to daily Blic, Skundric’s son, also called Petar Skundric, was arrested on July 10. He was in the front lines, wearing a mask and carrying a baseball bat.
Father Skundric was also minister of energy and mining between 2008 and 2011 when the SPS was part of the government with the Democratic Party. Skundric signed a purchase agreement
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between Gazprom Neft and the Serbian government in 2008.
The website Istinomer states that Skundric senior is considered to belong to the so-called "hard" faction of the SPS, and that he claimed (back in 2006) that “Slobodan Milosevic will forever remain a symbol
of the struggle against neocolonialism,
a symbol of the struggle for the freedom of small nations and states”. He also has links with sport, specifically the Red Star (Crvena zvezda) football club, according to Istinomer. Hooligans and far-righters are very often football fans in Serbia.
Post-election, it is not 100% guaranteed that Vucic will take the SPS, the SNS’ long-term coalition partner, in the
next government. Even though the SNS didn’t need it in the last four years either, it was included and it’s still not clear if that’s Vucic’s strategy to downsize the opposition or if Russian pressure is behind the alliance. Previously, he came under pressure to give the position of minister of energy to the SPS, even though he initially put there one of his most reliable people, Zorana Mihajlovic, the current minister of
destroyed. Corona, welcome to Serbia!
There is also a growing anti-vaccine movement in Serbia that mainly comes from far-right parties that support close ties with Russia too.
On July 7, Vucic announced the purchase of 2mn vaccines for seasonal flu which some groups like medical workers will be obligated to have. The idea was to prevent the bad combination of seasonal flu and corona in the autumn.
Ivan, one of the people vox popped by bne IntelliNews, spoke out against the vaccination programme. “I am young and healthy. It is better to get it [coronavirus] and be done with it instead of eventually being vaccinated by Vucic. Imagine how he would do that? He would probably make the police beat us to force us to have vaccines! That’s why we have to protest now! That’s what we need to stop!” he said.
Government rethink
During his statement to the nation on July 8, reacting to the riots the day before, Vucic said that he had given up
“We are responsible for everything we have done or have missed to do, responsible because we were silent when a word was all everybody needed”
infrastructure. She served as minister of energy from 2012 until 2014. In 2014, she was moved and her position was taken by SPS member Aleksandar Antic.
Corona, welcome to Serbia
Right now, it is hard to predict how big is the material damage of the destroyed streets and properties, and how badly the riots will strain the health system.
The number of new corona infections
is expected to go up. The health system is on the edge as hospitals are already full. Thousands of people are waiting
to be tested or treated. This is likely getting even worse. Meanwhile, cops and citizens fight against each other, and streets and properties and goods get
the idea of a curfew but still expects protests because those who led them “have political goals and plan to destroy the reputation of Serbia in international circles”. Asked what he will do if the protests and violence continue, he said the police will do their job – arresting.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic claims that government will be able to preserve the security of all citizens and the constitutional order.
“The elections are behind us and the citizens showed what they think, what the future of Serbia is and who should lead it,” she underlined, and said that attempts to change the will of the citizens will not succeed.