Vucic defends Brnabic: She was only telling the truth about the protests

He said that meeting one of the demands of the protesters, to cancel the numerous reality shows in the country is something that can be discussed.
"I didn’t think we would talk about this today because the whole world is talking about it: from the Guardian to the Times, everyone is talking about the unique and fantastic actions that Serbia has taken”, he said, praising the reaction of Serbia’s authorities following the recent shootings in the country which shocked the region.

“I have an obligation to respect every gathering, whether 5, 10 or more thousands of people gather, as was the case at the last two protests. I do not differentiate between citizens, my obligation is to pay attention to their requests and to see what we can do. As for the demand to reduce violence, we are taking measures. These are very serious measures... As for the political demands, I don't think anyone knows what those are and I don't think it’s possible to discuss those on the street”, he said.
“You want to talk about reality shows, fine. But if the reality show is cancelled, then it will be cancelled everywhere”, Vucic said.

Vucic also commented on claims that photos of the protests were photoshopped to increase the number of people present. This is what Prime Minister Ana Brnabic implied in a post on social media, which was the subject of a lot of criticism.

"That evening, the prime minister, the finance minister and I were drinking tea, it doesn't even matter. We talked about everything in a Belgrade cafe and at that moment we can see from that picture that there are so many people. We have precise software to determine how many people were at Gazella or in front of the Government, there are no more secrets. We have established that it was false, a forgery”, he said about the reported number of people at the protest.

He argued that there are attempts to portray a higher number of protesters.

Vucic said that the protest was mostly peaceful.

“People were marching peacefully, except for a couple of donkeys that were hitting cars, but they were overall peaceful,” he said.

Vucic said that he does not understand why the photo posted by Brnabic became such a big issue. According to Vucic, the photo, which many interpreted as an attempt to mock the protesters, was only showing “the truth”.

"What is the problem with the truth being told? Why is she guilty of telling those in the opposition that they were caught in lies and deception? Why are you campaigning against her? You see what the campaign turned into”, he said.

He said that the officials who the protesters want to see removed from their posts will not be fired, specifically, the Interior Minister, Bratislav Gasic.

"But we can compromise, replace the entire government and then go to the elections. But for that, you have to wait until May 26. I'm telling you, you won't achieve anything through force, and as far as democracy is concerned, I'm ready to meet you halfway. No problem, I'm informing the people on May 26, we're going to the elections in September”, he said.