Vucic: Offer for Debate Open until They Accept It

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/EMIL VAS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Aug. 25 that his offer of a debate with student protest representatives, which some faculties under blockade have rejected, "will remain until they accept it because one day they will have to speak to someone."

In an interview with Euronews Global TV, Vucic said that he had invited protesters to sit down and talk in public debate "because [he believes] that talks, conversation, dialogue have no alternative at all."

Of the violence at protests in August, Vucic said "any kind of violence that we saw in the streets, is not good for this country" while dismissing reports of the police using excessive force. 

"I'm very proud of the behaviour and stances that were taken by our police and their patience, and I think that it's a miracle that we, having in mind the level of aggressiveness of protesters, we kept the situation in a way that there were no casualties, that there are no dead people in nine months. And we hope that we'll be an example of democratic and peaceful resolution of all these issues," he said.

About the collapse of the concrete overhang at the then newly reconstructed main railway station in Novi Sad on Nov. 1, 2024 that killed 16, sparking months of still ongoing protests, Vucic said that corruption existed everywhere, in every country, but that "corruption has become a go-to argument and an easy way to air out grievances, even if they're unrelated."

On the topic of demands for elections, Vucic said his earlier offers of early elections had been rejected at least three times, but that "we have many things to do" and that "it cannot always be elections and elections."

Vucic rejected any possibility of amendments being made to the Constitution to allow him to run for president again after his second term expires in May 2027.