Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has definitely decided to bury Serbia. He has chosen violence to save his bare survival in power. It is his only remaining trump card in his hands, and he is using that violence to threaten students and citizens of Serbia.
He tried to appease the most beautiful part of Serbia, its youth, with various spins. He offered them cheap apartments, introduced free transportation, textbooks, scared the people with sanctions on the Serbian Oil Industry, offered a referendum on himself, defended Vojvodina from "secession" and Milorad Dodik from a court verdict. He has no choice but to scare the people, since they are scared like a beast caught in a trap.
For days, he has been announcing the "end of the protests" for March 15. Only on Monday, on two occasions, did he specify this "end of the protests". Namely, he is convinced that on Saturday, at a large student protest, the greatest crimes against the Republic of Serbia will be committed, namely an attack on the constitutional order in Serbia and an attempt to take over power. The state, he said, will let the demonstrators throw stones and stun grenades at the Serbian Parliament for five to six minutes, so that the whole world can see who started the violence. According to him, the same state will then react, arrest all the rioters and sentence them to three to 15 years in prison for undermining the constitutional order, and thus put an end to the student protests in Serbia.
He emphasized that the violence on Saturday cannot be avoided because "the other side wants it." The question that arises is: why does the state, if the president already has knowledge of the violence on Saturday, not do something to prevent it? If there were a prosecutor's office in Serbia, it should at least call the president and ask him about that knowledge and prevent any form of violence through legal action.
No incidents so far
It is important to emphasize that students have been protesting against the government for three months without a single incident. The only victims of violence were themselves. One student had her jaw dislocated with baseball bats by four members of the ruling party. Two students were run over by cars while paying tribute to the dead under the Novi Sad canopy. Among the victims, we can also mention the mayor of Kraljevo, Predrag Terzić, who was hit in the head with eggs three times for addressing students on social media with a red middle finger.
The students are also announcing the protest in Belgrade as peaceful and dignified. Everyone in Serbia knows very well that Vučić is prone to this type of manipulation and that he sends his hooligans, hidden behind masks and hoods, to do the dirty work for which he would then accuse students, citizens, and the opposition. All of them, even the largest rallies in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, and Niš, took place peacefully and in a kind of carnival atmosphere.
Vučić is now copying students and turning his workplace into a fortress. He has set up a camp with extras who play the role of students who want to study. His "loyalists" come every day to protect him, and it is interesting, coincidentally or not, that excavators are currently treating the street in front of the Serbian Presidency building.
Cornered is also the most dangerous
The president is clearly knocked down and cornered. It is clear that he is most dangerous in this situation – and he does not ask for a price. If he needs to, it will probably not be difficult for him to order the greatest repression. That is why it is important to listen to the students' appeals for March 15 to pass peacefully.
Those same students had already won a victory of sorts, as Vučić canceled a scheduled session of the Serbian Parliament, which was to include a speech by the president of the (Bosnian entity) Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik. The session was scheduled for March 14, 15, and 16, and the protest was announced earlier, right in front of the Serbian Parliament, which particularly bothered Vučić.
The citizens of Serbia are very angry and furious with the current government in Serbia. The students are aware of this and do not rule out the possibility of some conflicts on Saturday. It is also clear that they are under severe pressure, because this dissatisfied part of the citizens expects a lot from the protests.
Will Belarus become an ideal of democracy for Serbia?
What, in the end, can be expected on Saturday? The greatest success of the protest would be if Vučić were completely exposed and that everything would proceed peacefully. The protest on Saturday will probably be the most massive protest in the history of Serbia. Students have set off from all directions of Serbia, or will just set off, on foot. The number of people they greet and welcome along the way is literally incredible. The already artificially "pumped up" authority of the President of Serbia would be additionally shaken by the image of a huge number of demonstrators peacefully demanding that their demands be met.
The second option is for the Serbian President's prophecy to come true. It could end fatally for Vučić in the event that he sets out to conquer the institutions in Belgrade, for which the state would not have an adequate response due to the huge number of people on the streets. There is also speculation that Vučić, in that case, could even flee Serbia.
The worst-case scenario for Serbia is the possibility that Vučić will emerge victorious from this whole story, apply repression and embark on an unprecedented revenge. In the event that this happens, the citizens of Serbia will look to Belarus as the ideal of democracy. Someone who calls journalists imbeciles, students a mob whose fans are smarter than them, and political opponents degenerates, lunatics, and thieves, will not hesitate to destroy any future attempt to cry out for freedom in Serbia. That would be exactly the funeral of Serbia, which was mentioned at the beginning of the text and which will follow if Vučić implements his plans.
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