Djilas: Vucic Deceived Belgraders, I Won’t Negotiate with Him Again

Dragan Djilas (BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC)

Freedom and Justice Party head Dragan Djilas has said that he would not negotiate with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic again after Vucic deceived Belgraders by not calling snap elections for local government, despite pledging to do so in April 2022.

In an interview for BETA on July 31, Djilas insisted that all promised deadlines for said snap elections have passed.

“In April of last year, following a sit-down we had at the President’s Office, [Vucic] promised Belgraders that extraordinary elections would be called by the end of the year or the following spring. He has not done so, because most Belgrade denizens are against the regime and he is aware [his party] would lose,” the Freedom and Justice leader stated.

Asked whether he would enter into any kind of deal or negotiations with Vucic again, Djilas replied that he would not.

“If I could turn back the clock, I’m not sure I’d make the same choices. I then believed it important to recognize that the opposition won the majority vote, while also reducing aggression and tensions in society – which I also asked Vucic to do. Unfortunately, neither [that nor the elections] happened. The repercussions [of which] are visible everywhere,” he said.

According to Djilas, his last conversation with Vucic occurred last year, when talks on the formation of the new Cabinet were held.

In his opinion, having the Serbian Progressive Party retain power “is killing Belgrade’s soul.”

“They are tearing down landmark old houses and replacing them with ugly new buildings. [They] want to move all Belgrade marketplaces indoors, to demolish the old bridge on the Sava… They’ve shut down the [original] Railway Station, are paving every possible surface and killing Belgrade’s soul. The Progressives are modifying Belgrade to suit them, while their own appearance has changed completely since they came into power. They’re getting plastic surgery, are wearing expensive brands and, just as they’ve altered themselves according to their values and esthetics, they’d like to alter Belgrade – but Belgraders won’t stand for that,” Djilas concluded.