Vucic tries to compare student hit-and-run to an incident in Novi Sad

Tanjug/Vladimir Šporčić

In a video posted on Instagram, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said two and a half months have passed since the Novi Sad tragedy and that the state has done its job as promised, and also commented on an incident in which a student was hit by a car during a protest in Belgrade on Thursday.

“The prosecutor’s office conducted an investigation, the police gathered all the information, the prosecutor’s office filed charges, and now it is up to the courts to make their decision,” Vucic said in the video message, referring to the Novi Sad train station tragedy that occurred two and a half months ago.

He continued: “In the meantime, we have witnessed the exploitation of the tragedy, as usual, by the same political actors who can grab power only without the people’s will, without democracy, and without elections. This won’t be a significant problem because, ultimately, we will resolve it through democratic expression of the people’s will. But the problem arises when an internal student conflict is used for days to call for violence against those politically unlike-minded, and an even bigger problem is what happened today in Belgrade and Novi Sad.”

Regarding the Belgrade incident, Vucic acknowledged that a young woman was “injured in a horrible way” because “someone very irresponsible tried to pass through a blocked road area as fast as possible.” He said the suspect has been arrested and detained, with the crime classified at the highest severity level, and added that Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar had contacted the student’s family.

Vucic then drew attention to a separate incident in Novi Sad, where he said an elderly woman was humiliated and injured simply because she wanted to reach her house and held different views from the protesters, who could have been her grandchildren or children.

“That ugly and terrifying image of humiliating and injuring an elderly person just because they think differently must never happen again in our country,” the president emphasized, noting that he personally spoke with the woman.

Vucic called for accountability in all incidents and urged de-escalation of tensions.

“I invite everyone, I will join in myself, choosing every word I say in the coming period, to help reduce tensions. I also ask everyone, including those organizing illegal gatherings, to at least informally notify us of their planned locations so we can provide them with police protection from cars, buses, and all other traffic,” the Serbian president said.