Opposition Alderman: Vucic Should Be Replaced by Opposition, Not U.S. or EU

Dobrica Veselinovic (BETAPHOTO/AMIRHAMZAGIC)

The sanctions the U.S. has levied against Security and Information Agency chief Aleksandar Vulin demonstrate that the West’s attitude toward Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is “slowly but surely changing”, yet the regime must be changed not by the Americans or the EU but by the opposition, said Dobrica Veselinovic, a representative in the Belgrade City Assembly and an official of the Green-Left Front.

“Let’s not forget that Vulin is one of Vucic’s closest associates – therefore, the message is more than clear. On the other hand, Vucic won’t be replaced by the Americans, nor [by] the European Union. We must do that ourselves. Because this is our country and we plan to stay,” Veselinovic told the Aug. 21 edition of the Danas daily.

According to him, the Serbian Progressive Party and Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic fear elections because all relevant polls indicate that the regime’s rating in the capital has plummeted.

Asked whether he expects a snap local election to be held in the capital before the year is out – as was promised – Veselinovic replied that “the enormous crisis [Serbia’s] society is in must be resolved via elections, but that, in the wake of the great tragedies [which took place in May], the demands of the ‘Serbia Against Violence’ protest must be met first, and only then should elections be called.”