Law Professor: The Public Has Overcome Fear of Regime

Bojan Pajtic (Beta/Dragan Gojic)

What is most important in Serbia today is that the public has overcome its fear of the regime and is consciously seeking to stop the pilfering of national resources, professor Bojan Pajtic of the Novi Sad University School of Law said on Dec. 15.

“Nowadays, any scandal, be it ten times less in size and importance than [those from] a few years ago, holds greater weight and people are ready to take to the streets for far smaller issues because fear no longer exists in Serbia,” Pajtic told the Nova daily, noting that it is now the regime that is afraid.

According to the professor, every new scandal is “only another nail in the coffin” of President Aleksandar Vucic’s regime. Pajtic also opined that one should expect snap elections soon since the country will undoubtedly face an economic crisis, particularly due to the U.S. sanctions levied against the Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) oil and gas company.

In the past, said Pajtic, the people had resigned themselves to living in a country led by thieves who buy votes and manipulate the media.

“A great many people were ready to turn a blind eye because they saw no alternative. When corruption began claiming lives, this attitude changed and people became aware of the human cost behind each scandal. We became aware that all of us who have survived Aleksandar Vucic’s regime have survived by mere chance and that any one of us can become the next casualty,” the professor concluded.