Ivica Dacic (BetaPhoto/Serbian Ministry of Interior)
Over the past year, Serbia has seen about 29,000 unregistered public gatherings, during which more police officers than protestors sustained injuries, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Dec. 31.
“The intention of those attending all these unregistered gatherings has been to elicit a reaction from the police. In the past year, there have been about 29,000 unregistered gatherings and about 14,000 blockades in Serbia. The police have not once attacked anyone, but have rather been attacked. In that sense, the police have acted professionally and maintained stability in very precarious circumstances,” Dacic told the Blic daily.
The minister went on to maintain that elections in themselves will not resolve anything and that one should determine whether a vote would aid stability and reduce social tensions.
“I’m always against snap elections. [Our party has] had various agreements. We’ve had a joint presidential candidate but also independent tickets. At local elections, we’ve sometimes run on coalition tickets, sometimes independently. It depends on our assessment, on what is more beneficial, but governments were always formed jointly,” said Dacic, who is also the president of the Socialist Party of Serbia.
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