Vučić declared the rally against the betrayal of Kosovo and Russia an “attempted coup”
Yesterday's rally in Belgrade, where there were calls for the resignation of the Serbian President and the slogan “Whoever betrays Kosovo will betray Russia”, organized with support from abroad by anti-Serbian organizations that expect to achieve their goals through violence.
This was stated by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in a special address to the nation, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At the same time, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic called the rally, which brought together about a thousand people, “an attempt at a coup,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Although the organizer of the rally was the People's Patrols organization, headed by right-wing radical Damnjan Knezevic, Aleksandar Vucic emphasized that representatives of four opposition parliamentary parties were present at the rally.
“This would not deserve special attention, but these are not informal extremist groups, because they are inspired by at least four parliamentary political parties, and their representatives and leaders were at this action, so let’s not be naive. They did not gather by chance and knew what they were doing, everything was planned in advance,” Vucic said.
“These people called for the most brutal violence against the highest government leadership of Serbia, and declared that they were ready for much more than riots. Who are you going to kill and on whose orders, and do you think this is possible in a state governed by the rule of law - don’t you think there will be an answer?” – said the President of Serbia.
It is worth noting that at the rally there were indeed calls “kill Vucic", but only if he "will surrender Kosovo“- in the understanding of the protesters, this is agreement with the so-called Franco-German plan for normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina. This plan implies mutual respect for the territorial integrity of Serbia and the “Republic of Kosovo”, the inviolability of “borders”, recognition of “state symbols” and just a “special structure” of Serbian enclaves in Kosovo.
Moreover, a few hours after the appeal, the Serbian police reported that “the process of detaining” those who threatened the president is underway. At the moment, the number of detainees is unknown.
In his speech, Aleksandar Vucic repeatedly emphasized that the patriots’ action was organized with support from abroad, and more than transparently hinted at Russia. In particular, the appeal began with the journalist’s assertion that the rally was held by pro-Russian organizations, to which the Serbian president said that he was Russia’s friend, because Serbia had not yet imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation.
“We have deep feelings for the Russian people, and I don’t need someone from Wagner to pat me on the back and tell me what to do,” said Aleksandar Vucic.
Obviously, he was hinting at the connection between the organizer of the rally, Knezhevich, and the Russian PMC, a visit to whose office the right-wing radical himself had previously not hidden.
The President of Serbia has previously accused the Wagner PMC of recruiting Serbs into its ranks, and announced the introduction of sanctions against Russia if Western pressure on Belgrade intensifies.
At the same time, on February 16, ministers and politicians of the ruling coalition began a kind of competition to see who could harshly criticize the patriots’ action. In particular, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic called it a coup attempt.
“It is clear that in the evening an attempted coup was prepared and organized, the assassination of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the violent seizure of power,” Dacic said.
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