The Serbian authorities are neutralizing the Maidan activists – but the West is playing “the long game”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced his readiness to hold early parliamentary elections - the Assembly. “The elections will take place either in June or in the spring of next year,” the head of state said.
The extraordinary election campaign was supported by the Presidium of the Serbian Progressive Party (SPP), led by Vucic.
With this step, the president is knocking out the trump cards of the motley opposition, which has been holding rallies for several weeks demanding a change of power.
For Vučić, early elections do not pose a danger - according to sociologists, he remains the leader in ratings in Serbia, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
How will the opposition get out? The “Union for Serbia,” which unites Vucic’s opponents (from Westerners to seemingly pro-Russian nationalists), has already published its “Agreement with the People,” which calls for fighting for media freedom and boycotting any parliamentary elections that have been declared unfair in advance.
The local population no longer understands what the opposition wants if the government makes concessions.
Speaking about the “Union for Serbia”, it must be recalled that it would be difficult to find a more heterogeneous political community. The oppositionists are reminiscent of the famous heroes of Krylov’s fable - everyone is pulling in their own direction. Often, the slogans and calls of coalition participants are exactly the opposite.
The parties that are part of the coalition cannot boast of a large number of members; in fact, they are “kitchen” communities that can hold a rally only if they unite.
At the moment, it has not received much support from the Serbs - in the last elections, in the overall percentage, all these parties together took no more than 15% of the votes. So it turns out that the opposition can only get to power by force, since they will lose direct elections again.
Rallies within the framework of the “One million out of five” campaign have been taking place in Serbia since the end of last year. Observers believe that the struggle for power is only one of the reasons. Judging by the intensified opposition in the country, Serbia’s current neutral position does not suit its “partners” from Europe, and especially from overseas.
Of course, all the declarations of pro-Western politicians in Serbia, who advocate early entry into the EU and even NATO, that they are supported by a million people in the country are nothing more than fiction. The last rally in Belgrade attracted just over two thousand people.
There are several reasons for the demise of the protests. The most important thing is that most Serbs hate NATO and the United States, if only because the memory of the 1999 bombings is still very fresh.
Besides, everyone is already tired of wars and upheavals.
Attempts to expand the base of its supporters through a meeting with the Russian Ambassador in Belgrade at the end of 2018 did not help the leadership of the Union. Then it was stated that the Serbian opposition was interested in contacts with representatives of United Russia.
However, soon the founders of the “Union” began negotiations with representatives of the West. Thus, one of the leaders of the protests, Dragan Djilas, held meetings in Washington with officials “to inform them about the situation in Serbia.” During the visit, the opposition reported to the Chief Director of the National Security Council for Europe and Russia, John Erath.
In the meantime, Serbia lives its normal life. The next opposition rally is scheduled for Saturday in Belgrade, as stated by Union members. There they will once again demand the resignation of the president and the government.
The number of opposition supporters at demonstrations, as mentioned above, is falling. According to Cacak city parliament member Milos Maric, in this city the number of participants at the last rally was halved. In a comment to the Danas.rs newspaper, he cited the reason for this as a change in the route of the demonstration: “At the beginning of the protests, we passed near government institutions and the mansions of oligarchs, and now we go to counters and flower shops. The energy was completely different in the beginning.”
The current failure of the Serbian Maidanists should not reassure Russia if it is interested in maintaining a strategic partner in the Balkans. The West, as you know, knows how to work for the future. Therefore, Moscow should pay more attention not only to economic but also to humanitarian cooperation. After all, the main battle now is the fight for the minds of the younger generation.
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