Vucic Apologizes to People of Republika Srpska

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/MO)

In a Dec. 20 evening post on Instagram, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic issued an apology to the citizens of Republika Srpska over, as he termed it, “the horrific campaign” some of Belgrade’s politicians are leading against them.

The president stated that “a small number of people” from Srpska indeed voted in the Dec. 17 election, but that this was done in accordance with the laws and Constitution of the Serbian state.

“I want to apologize to you over the horrific campaign being led against you – our sisters and brothers – by one part of Belgrade’s political scene. By a part of those who cannot reconcile themselves to their latest of God knows how many consecutive defeats, who want power at any cost, be it at your expense, be it that they blame you for their failures, even though you’re to blame for nothing,” Vucic wrote.

The oppositional Serbia Against Violence coalition has alleged that a vast number of Bosnian and Herzegovinian citizens were brought to Belgrade ahead of the elections in an act of voter fraud by the Serbian Progressive Party. On Dec. 18, the coalition submitted an official complaint to the Electoral Commission requesting that the capital’s local election be voided and called on the public to protest. One of the coalition’s leaders, Marinika Tepic, has been on hunger strike ever since.

Vucic’s Instagram post went on to say that “the majority of Serbia and the Serbian people love Republika Srpska, while always respecting Bosnia and Herzegovina,” and added that the electoral will of the people will be upheld.

The “outside” forces attempting to “impose their own solutions” on Serbia in an effort to “render it a banana republic,” Vucic said, will not succeed. Further addressing the Srpska public, Vucic concluded: “In the name of the citizens of Serbia, in the name of our people as a whole, I say to you, and to everyone in Serbia, that we will defend the electoral will of the people – of that there is no doubt.”