Vucic: Students, citizens will continue with violence, state will choose when to end it

Vucic told the pro-regime Pink TV that Serbia’s authorities have handled the blockade participants “more democratically than 95 percent of EU countries, or nearly all of Europe.”

“Nobody is thrilled about this, and we’re not sadists looking to beat anyone into submission to prove who’s stronger. Everyone knows who holds the power in a state. By definition, the state has a monopoly on legitimate force, but it must act democratically. The state must choose the moment carefully, and that moment will be the last resort for using force. We hope we never have to go there,” the Serbian president said.

Vucic added that he can say “with certainty” that the “color revolution in Serbia is over.”

“Their chance was on March 15, when they planned to take me out. That afternoon, I uncovered plots by certain criminal groups, I don’t mean the students - working with some state structures. I can now say with certainty that the color revolution is finished, and our job is to get back on the path of economic progress as soon as possible,” he said.

Vucic called the multi-day student blockade of Serbian state TV (RTS) buildings in Belgrade an “unprecedented crime.”

“Everything they are doing to RTS is a crime without parallel, and I’m not saying this because I love or respect RTS’s work - quite the opposite. Blocking access to a building for 10 days, preventing people from leaving, stopping food deliveries, all backed by some NGOs and ignored by many abroad… That shows you who is supporting them. When Aleksandar Vulin and his friends held a protest outside N1 TV for an hour or two, the EU, OSCE, and every political party immediately cried foul, calling it unprecedented pressure,” Vucic remarked.

He also claimed that state authorities have “audio and video evidence” of certain professors holding exams for foreign students in Serbia and allegedly taking money, while refusing to offer online classes to local students. “That is a crime, and it will land people in prison. You’ll see soon enough what that looks like,” he said.

Vucic dismissed a criminal complaint filed by the Democratic Party (DS) against unidentified persons for the alleged use of a sound cannon at a student protest in Belgrade on March 15, calling it “yet another piece of nonsense.”

“Everyone in Serbia knows there was no sound cannon. Even a report from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed it, they even looked into what happened not just into what didn’t happen. It’s just another lie in a long line of them. If I weren’t president, I’d say any fool can file a complaint,” he said.

The Serbian president described the protests and blockades in the country as a “revolt of the wealthy and privileged,” noting that “there’s no poor people” among the demonstrators.