Georgiev: People shout - You won't mine, Vucic hears - Solak is plotting my assassination

The campaign against United Group media outlets, spearheaded by the highest levels of the Serbian government, is continuing with full force. After Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused United Group co-owner Dragan Solak of plotting his assassination, Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic added to the campaign by posting a video on X, claiming that Solak’s media outlets are constantly calling for Vucic’s assassination.

“The government is doing everything possible to remove what bothers them. Since the only two TV stations reporting on what’s really happening are linked to Solak, the government has labeled them its biggest enemies, and slightly shifted focus away from what it sees as its other standard enemies. For about a month, they attacked the people organizing protests and their families. Now, they’ve shifted their focus to the media organization we belong to, pushing an idea they’ve had from the start: to shut us down,” Georgiev told N1.

He said he sees this as a continuation of the campaign Vucic and Brnabic have been leading since 2018.

“It started when they privatized Telekom. Until 2017, Vucic wanted to privatize it by selling it, which was the original idea. Then he decided to privatize it differently, and since then, they’ve been trying to destroy SBB (Serbia Broadband, part of United Group), which has now escalated into personal attacks against Dragan Solak and everyone connected to him,” Georgiev emphasized.

Asked why the government is focusing on Solak, whether it is to distract from issues like lithium mining or declining popularity, Georgiev said that a large number of citizens are against Rio Tinto’s lithium mining project in the Jadar Valley. “Vucic, who proudly calls himself an advocate for Rio Tinto, has essentially become their lawyer, alongside Ana Brnabic and other SNS (ruling Serbian Progressive Party) members."

Since the public is against the lithium mine, Vucic is trying to “smooth things over,” said Georgiev.

Instead of explaining to the people, like a true president, how opening the mine benefits the country, and how people’s lives will improve when his friends start mining jadarite and extracting lithium, Vucic chose a “drastic approach,” he explained.

“Someone recently pointed out that if you Google (slain Serbian Prime Minister Zoran) 'Djindjic assassination,' you get around 65,000 hits, but if you search 'Vucic assassination,' you get 620,000. That’s his spin tactic—whenever he's cornered, he claims, 'They want to kill me.' Then his media, which he’s taken over, amplify the narrative. Now he’s named Solak and the people working here, accusing them of plotting his assassination. They continue to peddle this false story about an attempted color revolution, just because they’ve lied to the public. That’s the real issue,” Georgiev told N1.

If Vucic had run in last year’s December elections with the message that a mine would be opened in Serbia and that the country would be turned into a mining colony, it is uncertain how people would have voted, said Georgiev, adding: “Of course, he didn’t say that.”

He said Vucic is facing a political crisis, but that he will avoid elections and try to manage the crisis caused by the protests in some other way, “maybe by creating a new crisis - some PR distraction to make people forget about this issue.”

Georgiev recalled that Vucic has spoken about his possible assassination several times, adding that he seems tired of politics.

No greater politics than defending the country

The Nova S TV news director said he does not understand the organizers of anti-lithium protests from the village of Gornje Nedeljice in the Jadar Valley who say they don’t want the protests to become politicized.

“That’s been an issue ever since the protests started. They say, 'Let’s not politicize this.' And I say, 'Let’s politicize it.' There’s no greater political cause than this! Defending the country is the ultimate political act! These people are saying: We are defending our country, our rights. The only question is what kind of politics it is - party politics or something beyond party lines. To me, it seems like a non-partisan cause,” Georgiev emphasized.

He believes the initiative to ban lithium mining is inherently political, and that the people organizing the protests need to decide on the next steps.

“They’ve been holding protests all summer, even though it wasn’t the best time for it. So, what’s next? You’ve sent your message to the government, but they’re pretending not to hear it. You told them, ‘You won’t mine,’ but Vucic heard, ‘Solak is planning my assassination,’” Georgiev explained.

Ultimately any decision on lithium will be a political one, Georgiev said.

“The people have made it clear they don’t want the mine. But if your policy is to make ‘Serbia a mining colony,’ then put that up for a vote. You didn’t put it up for a vote. Just like you didn’t tell the people that you’ve handed everything in Kosovo over to (Kosovo Prime Minister Albin) Kurti. It took 10 or 11 years, but Vucic took care of that too,” Georgiev concluded.