On the third day of the uprising in Serbia, the illegal government, using proven combinations of force, intimidation and manipulation, made the protest completely meaningless. The demonstration of force was shown not only through the brutality of the police, but also through the blocking of live broadcasts of the uprising to alternative media via the Internet. Last night it was noticeable that only regime-approved channels, RTS, N1, Kurir… had a free connection. The intimidation began through the media with a “promise” of criminal prosecution, but there was also the direct arrest of the leaders of patriotic groups in their homes, as well as the intimidation of the editors of alternative media channels, as one of them, Dejan Petar Zlatanović, personally testified:

For the part with the manipulation, the leaders of the ‘opposition’ micro-parties took care of it, which organized a peaceful, sitting, Gandhi protest – without any political demands! Tens of thousands of people who came out could go out to the park as well, with the same result! How do we know that it was a matter of manipulating the ‘opposition’ in agreement with the authorities? Because this time there were almost no police. There were only futile ‘calling for wisdom’ and ‘coming up with smart slogans’…

…but no political demands whatsoever! Gathering so many people for virtually no reason is the best way to kill a protest. Instead of meaningful political demands, the ‘opposition’ divided the people into those who would like to sit down and those who would not sit! Just imagine what the history of Serbia would look like if Miloš Obrenović, on the Cveti holiday in 1815 in Takovo, commanded: Sit down! (see cover image). What’s next? Sit down and shut the f*ck up?

What next?

Therefore, it is necessary to formulate at least one clear political request in order to channel the people’s energy. There really are a lot of them. For example, the initial protest resulted in the withdrawal of the insane decision to reintroduce curfew, because the government itself knows that this is not a health protection measure, but a sadistic abuse, which the same government perceived as a trigger for the protest, and whose abolition it understood as the basic demand of the angry people. Here are few more examples: That one clear political demand can be – the annulment of stolen elections and the demand for new, fair elections. It could be – withdrawal of the law and regulation on compulsory vaccination. It could be – Serbian territorial integrity is not the subject of negotiations. But you have to give the people a clear aim why they are protesting. The future of these protests, if they have a future at all, depends on that. Otherwise, the situation is such that a new organization with much more radical demands will soon have to be formulated. The situation in the country was described quite well by the All-Serbian Unification Movement in its July 8th statement, signed on behalf of the Movement by Dr. Dragan Petrović:

“The situation in Serbia is socially and politically bad, primarily as a result of a series of unfavorable accumulated multi-year processes, failed policies, including the continuation of the wrong neoliberal economic and social model applied by the current government led by Aleksandar Vučić. The government has largely mismanaged the the society during this Spring regarding the appearance of the corona virus. The parliamentary elections in June took place in an irregular atmosphere without a minimum of democratic conditions, especially the media scene and the control of voters lists. In addition, there was a breakup of the legal aspect of the deadlines for holding the elections, while the elections themselves took place with the lowest turnout so far and a series of omissions that seriously call into question the regularity of their conduct. In any case, there is a crisis of functioning and legitimacy of the government in Serbia today, and besides that, Aleksandar Vučić, who as the president of the republic does not have the authority to use it in everything every day, negotiates the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, declares a curfew, ‘fights the pandemic’ and runs the country.

The culmination of such moves led to a justified protest of tens of thousands of people in front of the Assembly in Belgrade on the evening of July 7th. Not supporting the incidents that were certainly among the protesters, it must be noted that the police used inadequate force. The ruling media hurried to, this time without keeping silent about the event, as they usually do, declare that the demonstrations against the government were destructive and directed against the new measures of setting curfew and banning gatherings related to the corona virus. The people are protesting because of the catastrophically unprofessional management of the country, from the economy, through the demographic issue, migrants, betrayal on KIM, media blockade and much more. The legal system has been shaken due to illegitimately organized elections, its official non-completion and other omissions.

The government is implementing economic and social measures that deepens the crisis which will develop during the Fall, continuing to follow a neoliberal model that suits a narrow layer of people around the regime, tycoons and part of the foreign factor. Accumulated contradictions in society can be resolved only by opening a public dialogue on burning issues, freeing the media, the influence of experts on accumulated problems in the economy and society, stopping privatization of government and especially the disastrous capitulation policy on Kosovo and Metohija, demographic measures and migrant pressure. The previous elections are seriously in question, so it is necessary to reach a consensus in politics and society on the formation of a transitional government that would provide a minimum of democratic conditions for calling elections at all levels.

Belgrade, July 8th, 2020”

So, today we will see how things stand with the protest in Serbia, and in the meantime, the protests has taken over Greece, where the protesters gathered in front of the Greek National Assembly to express dissatisfaction with the draft law restricting public demonstrations. Tear gas and violence? You bet! What business has the people in the National Assembly?!