Journalist on Vučić’s Visit to Niš: “It Looked Roughly Like Netanyahu Visiting Occupied Gaza”

Aleksandar Vučić’s visit to Niš unfolded behind police cordons, with residents protesting and unable to approach the Serbian president. For journalist and Philosophy Faculty assistant Velibor Petković, the scene resembled “roughly like Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, visiting occupied Gaza.”

Petković rejected the argument that Vučić should be able to visit any Serbian city freely. He said the president could do so if he governed differently and did not divide citizens between members of his Serbian Progressive Party and everyone else.

“

It looked roughly like Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, visiting occupied Gaza.

He said the city had been split into sections by the gendarmerie and other groups dressed in black, whom he described as people who seemed to believe black was the color of democracy. Petković recalled seeing young people outside the National Theatre, facing the entrance with their backs to the citizens. In his view, many appeared to be attending unwillingly because party membership might help secure university admission or employment, or because family members depended on their attendance to keep their jobs.

“

The whole city was divided into sections, the gendarmerie was there, and not only the gendarmerie, but also those famous helpers who dress in black, thinking that black is the color of democracy.

Petković also said some people who had previously worked as bus inspectors had been reassigned after public transport became free. He accused them of disrupting student gatherings, issuing threats and making blackmail attempts. He said all levers of power were being used, including the gendarmerie, potentially the army and people he believed came from supporter groups. He also referred to an attack on a colleague who was trying to report from the visit.

Asked whether the SNS decision to put Vučić at the head of its list and nominate him for prime minister indicated that elections would take place, Petković said everything pointed in that direction. He added, however, that Serbia’s political situation was so abnormal that he could not rule out Vučić deciding one morning that elections were pointless and should not be held.

“

Aleksandar Vučić could move freely, he could sit here beside me and we could join the program together, if only the way of governing were different.