Socialist Party Official Says Joining Movement for People and State Would Not Jeopardize Party's Identity

Ivica Dacic, Aleksandar Vucic,Belgrade, Nov. 20 2018 (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC/MO/file)

Socialist Party of Serbia deputy whip Snezana Paunovic has said that the party's potential entry into the future Movement for the People and the State would not jeopardize its identity, and added that only those who were unsure of that identity were afraid of that.

Paunovic told the Feb. 23 issue of daily Politika that she supported Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's proposal to form the movement and that those who joined the organization would not dissolve in it but rather put ideological differences aside and unite around a common goal.

"This is a historic moment when we need to show whether we are ready to protect our people, state and national interest. That is the context in which I see the head of state's aim to bring together all people who are aware of the importance of the moment and the need to erase minuscule ideological differences, as well as the need to rally around one goal," said Paunovic.

Vucic said on Feb. 13 that the time had come to form "a big movement for the people and the state," which he had announced several times over the course of 2023.

The idea of the movement, as Vucic said on previous occasions, is to gather in one place multiple parties (including the Serbian Progressive Party and the Socialist Party of Serbia), movements, associations, and numerous important individuals.