Premeditated Tension

Activists Aida Corovic and Jelena Jacimovic threw eggs at the mural, which resulted in the plainclothes policemen arresting them, with the use of force, Belgrade, Nov. 9 2021(BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/DS)

The authorities have used last week’s tensions sparked by a mural depicting Ratko Mladic in downtown Belgrade to achieve several political goals. The regime used the turbulent events, the course of which it had certainly steered, to push some important issues into the background, to send a message to its electorate, but also to cause turmoil in the opposition-oriented segment of the public.