Vucic: Brutal Political Violence At Protest In Belgrade

Aleksandar Vucic, press conference (BETAFOTO/Milan Obradovic)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated on July 8 that "the most brutal political violence" occurred in Belgrade in the evening of July 7, that the rally was well organized, but that Serbia's security services had failed because "criminal and foreign factors and services" had infiltrated it.

"For the past eight years, unlike in some previous periods, Serbia has honored the freedom to assemble, demonstrate, express and think differently, and it never withheld that right from its people, its citizens," Vucic said at a news conference in Belgrade.

Vucic said he would be traveling to Paris in the morning of July 9, instead of the evening of July 8, stating that he was not afraid of demonstrations. "I am going to Paris and Brussels to negotiate for Kosovo, not to betray, but to fight for Serbia," he stated.

He said that 43 police officers were injured during the demonstrations, one of whom had his skull fractured, and that five police vehicles were destroyed. Vucic stated that the demonstrators brutally attacked the police, stoned and beat them, and that the police still responded with dignity.

Vucic stressed that the protest was the expression of "political frustration" of those political options which have not made it into the Parliament, stating that they "view each death in Serbia as a political point in their favor."