Vucic: June 28 Rally Is Not Happening

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/PREDSEDNISTVO SRBIJE/DIMITRIJE GOLL/MO)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on June 20 that a student protest called for June 28 on the national holiday Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day) "is not happening", adding that the organizers "stand no chance".

Speaking in an interview with Prva TV, Vucic said that the state knew very well how to protect itself and its people and that he hoped that there would be no need to demonstrate that, even though, he warned, the organizers might attempt to “provoke incidents.” "This Vidovdan will be a victorious one. They don’t stand a chance, no matter how many people turn up or how angry they are," Vucic said.

The president said that international support for the protests was waning, their internal cohesion was weakening and funding drying up. He also said that the people who sympathized with the movement were walking away and at an increasingly faster pace. Vucic said he expected the people who turned up on June 28 to try to provoke the police and block major intersections. When his host asked whether they could also target the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation (RTS), he sarcastically asked why and offered his help in the same sarcastic tone.

Vucic said the state had no desire to use force, underlining that the authorities were obliged to look after every citizen - including, as he said, "every blockader."

"We will refrain from using force until the very last moment," Vucic said. "Everything that can be tolerated, will be tolerated. They are collapsing on all fronts and can no longer pose a threat to the state. What matters now is to try to protect these young people... I have to look after even those blocking intersections," he concluded.