The Serbian President has set an election date – the EU is unable to organize the Maidan

After a meeting with representatives of nine parties ready to take part in this year's elections, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic set a new date for the elections, postponed due to the emergency, which were to take place on April 26.

Serbian media reported this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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“We discussed how and in what way it is best to set an election date, respecting the Constitution and laws of our country,” said Aleksandar Vučić. “And they accepted the idea of ​​some political parties who asked for an additional five or six days for election campaigning, calling elections in the Republic of Serbia for June 21. We are talking about parliamentary and local elections.”

At the same time, the Serbian President noted that the recommendations of epidemiologists will definitely be taken into account during the election campaign.

“It is absolutely clear that there will be no rallies in May, neither large nor in closed spaces,” the Serbian president said. – In June we will wait for the opinion of epidemiologists, and we hope that then it will be possible to hold rallies. In any case, it will depend not on us, but on the level of the epidemic. We will draw up guidelines for conducting elections, and will consult with professionals (medics - ed.) on how to ensure the safe execution of electoral actions...

For me, as President of the Republic of Serbia, after this difficult period, it is important to ensure a democratic atmosphere and ensure the election of a parliament and government that will serve the interests of the citizens of Serbia.”

The words and decisions of the Serbian President expectedly aroused criticism from representatives of the non-systemic opposition, which intends to boycott the elections as initially “dishonest”, but at the same time very “worried” about the electoral process.

“The announced boycott (by the non-systemic opposition - ed.) of the upcoming elections does not have the same force as before the coronavirus pandemic, although I do not see anything seriously changing,” said the leader of the Freedom and Truth Party, part of the Union for Serbia, Borko Stefanovich. “Everything has gotten worse; there are no conditions for normal elections on June 21, neither medical nor political.”

The fact that “everything has changed” was also realized by the leader of the Free Citizens Movement, the controversial actor Sergei Trifunovic, who is a member of the “Union for Serbia,” and said that his political force will go to the polls.

“Vučić initially proceeds from the fact that the campaign must be completed within a timely manner. This is due to the fact that it was stopped from the moment the state of emergency was introduced, about six weeks before the announced date of the elections,” Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Progressive Politics Foundation and founder of the balkanist.ru project, commented on the political situation in Serbia to PolitNavigator.

“And now, when he announces the date of the election, he leaves more than six weeks for the election period. The entry barrier has been lowered, which I am very happy about.

Now it is three percent, which means that the Serbian Radical Party (the oldest patriotic party in the country - ed.) can remain in parliament, and a number of other political forces can claim entry into parliament. Yes, they most likely will not have large factions, but political representation will be ensured quite broadly,” Bondarenko noted.

According to the expert, the Serbian non-systemic opposition constantly acts in provocation mode, so some additional incidents before the elections cannot be ruled out. But the capabilities of those outside the system are limited; they are not an influential political subject.

“Rather, this is a gathering of political retirees who are offended that they were the government in Serbia for a long time, and then something broke and they stopped being this government,” Bondarenko noted. – To understand whether attempts will be made to organize unrest, you will need to listen to the statements of representatives of the European Union on the eve of the elections. And then we can draw some conclusions. Although, I think that the EU, in the current difficult situation for itself, is unlikely to enter into confrontation with official Belgrade.”