Children at the "Venčić" kindergarten in the Vojvodina city of Sombor were recently given lollipops with an Easter motif, which also bore the signature of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
The Vera Gucunja preschool distanced itself from the case with a statement stating that "an unknown person gave the waitress the exact number of lollipops, explaining that they were for the children from the facility." They added that after consideration, the police department reported the case to the police.
Wrapped in cellophane, N1 reports that the lollipops were most likely cherry-flavored, but certainly with the aroma of political propaganda.
"How did that lollipop end up in the preschool, how could they receive anything and distribute it to the children, even though it was packaged, even though the parent allegedly brought it, and for it all to go through without the teachers knowing? Especially since that facility, that kindergarten, is located in the same building as the administration of the "Vera Guconja" preschool in Sombor," says Tivadar Farago, a journalist for the portal. SOinfo.
And from the office next door, only a statement from the director arrived:
"An unknown person gave the waitress the exact number of lollipops with the explanation that they were for the children from the facility. Assuming that the person was one of the users or relatives, the waitress passed them on. The lollipops were inspected, and since they were factory-packaged, as such, without paying attention to the political connotation, they were distributed for the children to take home, and at the parents' discretion to consume them."
The children went home with sweets. The parents with bitterness. And those responsible? Still unknown, reports N1.
All that is known is the signature on the lollipop and the director's statement that the recording of the person, who is unknown to the administration, was forwarded to the police. The same statement says that the person is also unknown to the city committee of the Serbian Progressive Party.
"The issue of the camera footage that was forwarded to the SUP is absolutely correct, that is what should be done, but why it was shared with the city committee of the Serbian Progressive Party is really unclear. Why wasn't it shared with all city committees or made public, so that we citizens could see who the person who did it is," says Vladan Veljković, GI "Political Union Sombor".
Veljković also claims that the Law on the Foundations of the Education System, which clearly prohibits party activities and organizing in educational institutions, has been violated.
And some believe that the reaction of the authorities was insufficient.
"There was no reaction from the local government, which is the founder of the preschool, and no reaction from the school administration - no one spoke out. Now the police are investigating the lollipop case, which is quite a Monty Python story," says Tivadar Farago, a journalist for the SOinfo portal.
The N1 editorial team sent an inquiry to the director of the "Vera Gucunja" preschool institution, as well as to the head of the Department of Education of the city of Sombor regarding the situation, but we were told that in order not to hinder the investigation, we would not receive any answers.
It is still up to the police to solve the problem - who, how and why tried to "sweeten" messages to adults through children.
Bonus video:
