The historic revolt of students and citizens of Serbia against the "corrupt, clientelist regime" is not giving up and its seeds have also germinated in government institutions, the Spanish newspaper "Periodiko" writes today.
"Periodiko" points out that Russia, America, and even the European Union did not support the protesters in Serbia and states that "the European Union (EU) is entrenched behind the German position of keeping in power the person who is thought to be the lesser evil."
Those who make decisions in the EU, says the Spanish daily, "believe that (Serbian President Aleksandar) Vučić has the strength to maintain stability in the region, especially when it comes to the conflict over Kosovo, and at a time of the Ukrainian war."
"The conciliatory statements of European leaders in this regard have greatly disappointed the protesters in Serbia," notes "Periodiko".
And, as he points out, "a different reality has emerged in Serbia, as adult citizens have joined the youth, despite the propaganda machinery and attacks by the authorities, who have been accused of even using a sound cannon to disperse the demonstrators."
"Despite this," the Spanish newspaper states in an extensive article, public opinion polls show that over 60 percent of citizens support the protests... and they have been joined by broad sections of society."
"Not only professors, intellectuals, artists and celebrities, such as world star Novak Djokovic, joined, but also miners, workers, teachers, small entrepreneurs, taxi drivers, trade unionists, service sector workers and farmers, i.e. various layers of society, and topics that concern them, such as environmental conservation and the growing gap between rich and poor, were incorporated," notes "Periodiko".
The Spanish daily notes that "the uprising has still not managed to break Vučić's rule, based on a clientelistic system of state officials, petty political bosses, those who hold the levers of the economy and divide the country's public and private funds among themselves."
"This group is not a majority in Serbia, but it is still holding on due to the inability of the fragmented opposition to offer an alternative," adds "Periodiko".
But he notes that there are still more and more protests in some state bodies, including Radio Television of Serbia, which is particularly evident in the solidarity strike of Darko Šper at Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV), who supported the students' demands and condemned the public television's reporting that spreads government propaganda.
"Periodiko" also states that there has been a strike in part of the Serbian judiciary, with lawyer Rodoljub Šabić explaining that "things in the country have now reached a point where change must occur."
The Spanish newspaper concludes with Šabić's words that "the current regime, as convincing world reports and data show, has reduced Serbia to one of the most corrupt countries, with one of the highest rates of organized crime, the weakest functioning of the rule of law, the worst state of press freedom, and turned it into one of the poorest countries in Europe."
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