Top Serbian officials condemn protest

Brnabic condemned what she said was vandalism organized by opposition politicians. “I most sharply condemn the vandalism by the politicians who are behind the violent entry into the Serbian parliamentt at a moment when our state and health system are faced with the hardest strike of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic,” the state TV (RTS) reported her as saying. The prime minister said that the state and its institutions will protect legal order just as every democratic country does.  

Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic, who was hospitalized after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, condemned the “savagery” in Belgrade. “The images of savagery we saw and the blocking of an ambulance when many of our citizens are fighting Covid-19 are impermissible and can in no way contribute to preserving the health of the citizens,” she is quoted as saying in a press release. As one of the people with Covid-19 I know how hard this disease is, she said adding that “while they are destroying Belgrade, doctors and nurses are fighting for lives”. Gojkovic blamed President Aleksandar Vucic’s opponents for the violence.  

Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that Serbia has to respond to force with force and punish all the politicians who called for violence. “Every politician who calls for violence and every bully who destroyed Belgrade last night must be found and punished or Serbia has no democracy. Serbia must respond to force with the force of the law,” Vulin is quoted as saying in a Defense Ministry press release. “The state of Serbia must prove that it is ruled by law not by bullies and politicians who can enter parliament only by force,” he said.  

Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic called the population to refrain from violence of any kind and abide by the measures introduced by the pandemic Crisis Staff. “I am calling all citizens not to resort to any kind of violence! Wearing masks, keeping distance and being responsible for our own health and that of others is the only way to fight this rampant corona epidemic,” a statement said. She that any attempt at political abuse of the epidemic situation is a gamble with the health of the population. “Organizing any kind of political protest when our hospitals are full of infected people is the height of irresponsibility,” she said.