by Saker’s Johnny-on-the-spot in Belgrade for The Saker Blog
Yes, Israel Shamir was on to something while showering Serbs with fulsome praise for derailing the globalist project with their anti-lockdown, anti-Vučić tyranny, insurrection. A measure of respect they have indeed earned. But let’s not count chickens before they hatch. This is not yet the Serbs’ March 27 1941 moment, or even a decent replay of the gloriously defiant 1999. What it will turn out to be, time will tell.
Long on emotions and short on strategy, even Serbs are now coming round to the sensible conclusion that to rid themselves of the execrable Bastard they must first settle in their own minds the methodology of his removal. Some inkling of that incipient realization was evident on the sixth night of protest (more hard-nosed people would have taken care of that essential piece of business on the very first day). The vociferous discussion in that relatively small liberated patch of Belgrade, the parliament square, the Agora of Serbs yearning to be free, has finally turned to the paramount subject of what political demands should direct their liberation movement.
So far no clear concepts have emerged, or concise slogans encapsulating the masses’ deep-seated anger and disgust and pointing to the objectives that should be pursued and, just as importantly, in what order. Notably and ominously tonight, the disgraced “opposition” figures who were vigorously chased away just a few nights ago have popped up again to purvey their services to the crowd which, this time, appeared more receptive to their gibberish. By far the best analysis of this critical juncture the protests have reached on Day 6 was offered not by professional political hacks, talking heads, or “analysts,” but by two fearless churchmen. No, not the senile and venal Patriarch, or anyone from his coterie, but the monk Anthony, the Serbian Savonarola, and archimandrite Dr Nikodim Bogosavljević, who had the integrity to bail out of the official church because he could no longer tolerate its Sergianist charade.
Meanwhile, Vučić’s vicious tontons macoutes continued their nightly bone-breaking campaign, unabated. The tontons macoutes were the Duvalierist regime’s feared intimidators, licenced to kill and maim with impunity, for those who are not students of Haiti’s political history. (Vučić apparently is, and quite an avid one. Papa Doc’s Serbian emulator has made huge progress converting Serbia into a voodoo state, complete with his own Duvalierville, the corrupt Belgrade-on-the-Waterfront money laundering operation.)
By all accounts, Vučić’s savage police are endowed with comparable powers. If a picture is worth a thousand words, these two “before” and “after” arrest photos must be absolutely precious:
Little wonder that an ugly photo, worth not a thousand but a million words, turned into a viral poster, is now circulating on the internet:
And no, these are not George Floyd copy-cat crisis actors, this is the real thing. Not in Minnesota, but in central Belgrade, Serbia, Europe, in the twenty-first century.
And here is the bruised back of the grandson of Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences member, Dušan Teodorović. (Famous statement: “As long as I live I will fight the Vučić regime”). The grandson and a some school chums went out Wednesday evening to watch the action in front of the parliament building:
This young man obviously got a piece of the action that he was not bargaining for.
As did this poor autistic boy in Novi Sad who was serenely riding his bike when he chanced upon a pack of Vučić’s tontons on Modena Street:
The son of cartoonist Dušan Petričić also got a piece of the action, courtesy of the Vučić tontons. In an early morning raid, they came to arrest him for passing out leaflets calling for civil disobedience to the regime. Here is a sample of elder Petričić’s caricatures, depicting the precipitous decline over two centuries in the civilizational level of Serbia’s leadership, which may explain the authorities’ annoyance with the family. The African chieftain on the extreme right is, of course, You-know-who:
Obviously, you do not challenge such a primitive character with Gandhian civil disobedience nonsense. You do it with a stick.
And you make sure that yours is at least twice as big as his.
Pretty good article. After 2.5 years in Belgrade I’ve decamped to Soko Banja. True, Serbs are not strong at planning or thinking ahead. No one I ask has any idea what the plan is the day after the revolution. With Otpor/Canvas lurking in the background, that’s a bit worrying.
Monarchy with a strong security state and distributism & greater local democracy on the level of people’s everyday lives, involving communities of 400-500 where practically everyone is familiar?
Long on emotions and short on strategy? Hmmm. Such a cavalier statement. The spark was the announcement of a second lockdown, so going into the streets sure did achieve its purpose, because it took less than a day for Vucic to back down. As for strategy – yes, it’s easy to say “get rid of Vucic,” but not so easy to carry out. The so-called opposition is Western-controlled, so most of the people demonstrating want no part of them. Also, Vucic has managed to turn at least partially towards China and Russia. In fact, he’s met with Putin no less than 18 times since coming into power. Serbia’s onboard the big Chinese BRI-related infrastructure projects, as well as Russia’s Turkstream gas pipeline, and is catching grief because of that from the EU and the US. So, it’s not easy to just say – out with Vucic. Especially with the bitter experience of the October 2000 color revolution. Even if you don’t trust Vucic or think he’s a traitor, it makes you uneasy when you listen to all the pro-Western media in Serbia cheering on the demonstrators.
BTW, the above-mentioned young men beaten by the police – the academician’s grandson and the cartoonist’s son – well, their grandfather and father, respectively, are both firmly in the pro-Western camp, and support Kosovo’s secession. It doesn’t justify the brutal beatings, but useful to know.
Thank you for your comments. As for the political posture of the beaten young man’s grandfather, no, that is quite useless to know. The grandfather answers for his views, the grandson is responsible for his own conduct. And what did the young man do to deserve a bruised back? How would you like to be beaten up for something your grandfather said or did?
Maybe it’s useless for you to know, it might be useful for someone else. Besides, if you read the entire message, and you should if you’re going to be responding to it, you’ll notice the last sentence: “It doesn’t justify the brutal beatings…”
The issues argued by grandfather Teodorovic (who says independent NATO Kosovo* is reality and should be accepted regardless of hundreds of thousands of dead and billions in damages) not only brought broken backs to Serbs everywhere, but they brought general devastation, death and despair so a few unconvincing bruises across the grandson’s back is hardly a fitting trade off. Vucic and Teodorovic are exactly the same. They serve the same boss.
Responsibility is personal
“And what did the young man do to deserve a bruised back ?”. The question should be what was that young man doing in front of the Parliament building. Attacking the police perhaps ? Throwing stones ? Throwing Molotov cocktails ?
In fact this article is more bizarre than the previous one, giving readers a totally inaccurate picture of what is going on. Let me enlighten readers.
These so-called “demonstrations” were instigated after the Parliamentary elections, the intent being a color revolution. The West wanted to see a Guaido type puppet sitting in Belgrade. President Vucic, therefore, had to be removed.There were no massive “demonstrations” in the streets of Belgrade, only demonstrations in front of the Parliament building, where the intent was for the building to be captured. Captured by whom ? The answer is by football hooligans, backed by immature teenagers, with both groups being backed by liberals and foreign citizens, no doubt working for foreign governments. The demonstrations were quite well planned, being a carbon copy of riots instigated in Kiev in 2014. As for accusations against President Vucic, we have carbon copy methods used against President Putin. He was accused of “not” being patriotic enough. The same accusation was leveled against President Vucic, and more than that.
The Western NGO’s and governments who planned this color revolution misjudged the response. There was no response as such from the population of Belgrade. The only response came from liberals, from football hooligans, who were given the same task as neo-Nazis in Kiev in 2014, from immature teenagers, and from foreign citizens, a little tactic that was also used in Kiev in 2014. The first couple of days were violent, the football hooligans attacking the police who were guarding the Parliament building. However, after that, the situation began to change. All those teenagers who initially took part began to stay away, as they grasped what was going on, with the result that last night one can barely say if there were any demonstrations. This morning I again passed by the Parliament building. Again, I could not see a single cop. The situation is perfectly normal, with people walking by the Parliament building and cars driving by.
The unnamed author of this biased article should explain to readers why the population of Belgrade, the two million of them, did not join the “demonstrators”. The answer is because they grasped that they were dealing with an attempted color revolution, and they had no intention of being reduced to stooges, nor did they have any intention of going against President Vucic.
Finally, I have difficulty understanding that an unnamed author would be permitted to disseminate third rate propaganda which should pass as news. For example:
“Meanwhile, Vučić’s vicious tontons macoutes continued their nightly bone-breaking campaign, unabated. The tontons macoutes were the Duvalierist regime’s feared intimidators, licenced to kill and maim with impunity, for those who are not students of Haiti’s political history. (Vučić apparently is, and quite an avid one. Papa Doc’s Serbian emulator has made huge progress converting Serbia into a voodoo state, complete with his own Duvalierville, the corrupt Belgrade-on-the-Waterfront money laundering operation.) “.
This statement is not just totally and utterly preposterous, but not even the worst political enemies of Vucic would have dared say something so outrageous and flagrantly false.
Jonny-in-the-box’s “unbridled” writing style (and train of thought) is remarkably reminiscent of Stephen Karganovic.
I like Israel Shamir but his article misses the point. These protests are not about lockdown.
The protests started July 8th when a man was filmed, weeping, in front of the parliament protesting “for his dad”. His father had just died due to lack of a ventilator/ respirator.
This led to the creation of the twitter hashtag #ćaleovojezatebe #dadthisisforyou.
From there it went viral.
(Btw, “Ćaleovojezatebe” can be seen on the posters of the demonstrators in Paris when Vucic arrived at his summit meeting in the Élysées)
President Vucic had assured us that the country has 1000s of ventilators and other equipment.
https://www.danas.rs/drustvo/vucic-od-premijerke-zatrazio-formiranje-dva-krizna-staba-zbog-korona-virusa/
His re-election campaign was based on his fantastic handling of the pandemic. Indeed right before the vote Serbia registered a lull in virus cases. Well..turns out it was all lies. Everything is one big fraud, including the vote itself apparently…
I must correct you. The protests started on July 7th, when Vucic announced not only a new lockdown but mass compulsory vaccination for 2 million people during a television appearance. People started going out into the street within an hour. The young man you mention certainly did feed the protests the following day, especially after Vucic publicly accused him of being a liar with a criminal record. But Shamir’s right that the initial protest was in reaction to the lockdown (and mass vaccination) threat.
You are right it . Thanks for clarifying.
The protest started July 7th because of lockdown. Next day it had morphed into the ventilator issue.
The original protest was because of new lock-down and vaccination. We can keep adding new demands daily.
This sit-rep sound rabidly nihilistic. We can keep complaining, nobody disputes that, the man is scum. However, what solution you guys propose?
Full solution steps: 1) bring Vucic down, 2) abolish all government institutions, 3) dissolve the police, 4) pick new president, better than Vucic 5) Let new president set up new institutions, 6) Let new president set up new police force. Without all 6 steps, every one of them, we have no solution.
Points 1) and 4) would help materialize other points, probably, We see how attempt to achieve point 1) is going – not too well. For point 4, the cartoon with rulers of Serbia in last 210 years could be used to create a template for choosing new president. For each one, including savage Vucic, we can find lots of dirt to pile up, that is given.
Here are their major sins:
1) Karadjordje – pure autocrat and psychopat, hanged his own brother, fled the country when rebellion failed
2) Milos Obrenovic – ditto, did not hang his brother but had Karadjordje beheaded and sent the had to Istambul (rather savage act, don’t we agree?), his dynasty was his first concern, gradual liberation of Serbia (part of) was a byproduct, a side effect
3) I don’t recognize the next one, could be Michailo – perhaps he would be OK, I must admit. I am sure Karadjordjevic fans will find something. After all, he was assassinated by Serbs, must have been some good perceived reason..
4) Nikola Pasic – sent Serbia to war, and his son to France, to avoid fight, at the time when 1/3 of Serbian POPULATION vanished
5) King Alexandar Karadjordjevic – actually enabled creation of Yugoslavia, did not care about Serbia, regime was as corrupted as any other
6) Josip Broz Tito – created Kosovo and generally screwed Serbs whenever possible. Some Serbs helped him, we must admit.
7) Milosevic – we would not be here if it was not for him, eh. Signed off capitulation in NATO war, wrote off Kosovo, regime slightly more corrupted then others on the picture
8) Boris Tadic – don’t we owe current situation in part to 12 years of his rule (his party, current opposition) Sold Serbia to highest bidder, wanted to join NATO and EU. If you think he would be a good replacement, that’s OK, just his party would need to get more than 3% of votes. We cannot bring him to power by violent revolution, After all, he is The Democrat, must respect elections, no?
9) Vucic – all the things you and Marko listed, perhaps more. Unwanted side-effect of his rule is perhaps fake collaboration with Russia and China. True, Russians may not come to help us if NATO attacks again, but at least they gave us Panzir and S-400 to protect our-self. S-400 could be propaganda, but who dares to try to prove it is not propaganda?
I assume that you would not take any of them for a president. If none of them, who do you suggest should come instead of Vucic? Unless we have that resolved, we are just wasting time and energy in pointless discussions.
Serbian Girl, you have decent reputation on this forum. Why are you squandering that with childish tantrum?
There is basically only one real claim (you list is made up by the Vucic propaganda which you repeat here and then discuss with yourself):
Take down the fraudulent elections and prepare for and have some fair and LAWFUL elections.
No less no more.
How could he announce a compulsory vaccination when nobody has yet developed the vaccine?
But he did announce obligatory vaccination against the flu.
https://www.kurir.rs/vesti/drustvo/3493613/vakcine-su-obavezne-za-ove-grupe-vucic-moracemo-da-vakcinisemo-vise-od-2-miliona-ljudi
The guy is completely crazy.
OK, that makes more sense. Thanks.
I’m not exactly thrilled about vaccines myself, but he does kinda have a point in wanting to avoid collision of flu and corona.
It’s hard to be a head of state and an anti-vaxxer at the same time. :))
I myself am not against vaccines if they are produced domestically, tested and at least 99.9% safe. However, I am against forcible and obligatory vaccination. Vaccines in Serbia, like in any colony, are or foreign origin, i.e. made in Belgium or elsewhere in the West. Vaccines used to be produced in Torlak, Serbia, but I think either Vucic’s government or his EU/NATO-loving predecessor sold it to Novartis. Vucic and his friends in the rest of g’ment are hardly known to care about the people so I would not trust them to do due diligence when it comes to vetting of the vaccines. The same would have to be said about his predecessors too.
Yeah, I agree with everything you said…except for your qualification of Vucic. :) If he really tries to make it forcible, that would be a big minus for him in my book.
Still, I don’t think that the protests are about vaccination. None of the protesters seem to fall into the proposed obligatory categories.
No, protests started long before by Nogo and his supporters. The protest just gained in strength after some additional events.
I’m sorry Serbian Girl. But Caleovojezatebe just stinks of Soros. Also Danas is openly an American-financed outlet same as N1. The Serbs do not need any new-age watch-cries with Kosovo hanging by a thread. The one issue that will break or make Serbia is Kosovo. If Vucic gets away with Serbia recognising that NATO narco so-called state there is no Serbia. The unraveling will continue and Serbia as a organised country will disappear. With no state the Serbs will become fair game as it happened every time when Serbs did not have an organised state to protect them.
Serbian girl
I think an intelligent girl like you knows better than to fall for pathetic excuses and third rate propaganda. These so-called “demonstrations” had nothing to do with the planned lockdown, Covid-19 and ventilators. They had everything to do with a color revolution and regime change. Read my above comment. Хвала.
Well you can tell that story to someone who is not in Serbia. I pray to God the day comes when just courts will send half the security apparatus and most of the political establishment here where they belong, in jail, for life.
Oh and confiscation of criminally gained property is also what you are looking at.
B.F.
June 21 election
July 7 protest starts against lockdown
July 8 protest continues against ventatilators
-The unrest was triggered by Vucic himself
-The opposition hyenas have been caught unaware
-There is no “Guaido creature” waiting in the wings
-Western media and leaders are supportive of Vucic
Not all popular discontent is a colour revolution.
This actually looks more Watergate. Or rather “Virusgate” which Vucic stupidly brought on himself with all his lies.
Will Virusgate unravel his election? Probably not but it has certainly cast more than a shadow of doubt on his “landslide” win.
—“Western media and leaders are supportive of Vucic”
You call this supportive?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/world/europe/serbia-protests-coronavirus.html
https://www.dw.com/en/serbia-protesters-try-to-storm-parliament-amid-fresh-unrest/a-54135350
https://www.euronews.com/2020/07/10/serbia-bans-mass-gatherings-in-belgrade-after-virus-lockdown-protests
From this random sample, it seems they are mirroring your talking points.
—“Not all popular discontent is a colour revolution”
No, but a popular discontent is usually more…popular.
—“Virusgate which Vucic stupidly brought on himself with all his lies”
What lies? When the virus became rampant throughout the whole world, it also came to Serbia. When the virus subsided in the whole world, it also subsided in Serbia (and we had elections). Then the virus spiked again *in the whole world*, and it also spiked in Serbia. Are you saying that Vucic has some magic powers to control international data on covid-19?
Yes the West are supportive of Vucic. The US embassy in Serbia helped Vucic by overseeing the recent elections:
Statement from Anthony Godfrey the US Ambassador to Serbia on June 21:
https://mobile.twitter.com/usambserbia/status/1274578383377137664
Here is a translation of the tweet in Serbian:
“Thank you Serbia for my official accreditation for overseeing the elections in Serbia today. My team from the embassy wish Serbian voters and excellent and peaceful election day.
There’s a photo of the ambassador with his official badge.
After Vucic’s victory, he then celebrated 4th of July the newly elected administration. (It’s on the same twitter feed)
“No, but a popular discontent is usually more…popular.”
So it must be colour then. Yes, you proofed your point … not.
“What lies?”
One of many (two media conferences):
Doctor: This is most laughable virus in history! (Vucic laughs behind him together with some other of his cronies)
Vucic 1-2 weeks later (in very angry and upset acusing voice) : Who said that? Nobody ever said that it was most laughable virus in history.
And yes, I can provide you with links to both videos.
Z, you are just a joke and playing on people following The Saker not been informed about details in Serbian politics like most of Serbian people. My muslim friend from Bosnien told me recently about him having few bright moments during his corona-sickness: playing on youtube stupidity from Serbian politicians in power mostly Vucic. Serbia has become laughingstock in the neighboring countries during Vucics rule.
In day 4 of siterep you in essence totally ignored two long lists witch were answers on your post:
Z on July 11, 2020 · at 7:07 pm EST/EDT
“Vučić is getting ready to sign off on Kosovo.”
It’s been 8 years now. If I had a penny every time I heard this sentence, I’d be a millionaire.”
Marko on July 11, 2020 · at 9:15 pm EST/EDT
He has so far:
* reneged on the election promise to cancel the treasonous acts and protocols of the previous NATO-installed government, instead he stepped up with the wholesale betrayal
* established a hard border with Kosovo*
* ignored hundreds of thousand of displaced Serbs from Kosovo and Methoija
* ignored pleas of the families of the thousands of killed and missing Serbs and other citizens including loyal Albanians
* under his rule the raids of so-called Kosovo* special police in the north of Kosovo and Methoija (one of the Serb enclaves, yes, Serbs in the 21st century live in enclaves in their own country) became a regular event
* got into talks with the criminals and their sponsors who are documented by the UN to have traded in human organs
* violated the Serbian Constitution on numerous occasions including signing of the Brussels Agreements
* upheld the so-called constitutions of terrorist proclaimed Kosovo*
* installed his henchmen in the north of Kosovo and Metohija who rule with terror burning houses and cars of the Serbs who hold different political views
* withdrew all Serbian institutions from the north of Kosovo and Methoija
* upon a request from Merkel, removed anti-tank obstacles from the Mitrovica bridge resulting in an increase of attacks on the Serbs there
* helped Kosovo terrorists get into a number of international organisations including the International Olympic Committee even though they had power of veto
* helped Kosovo terrorists get an international telecom code
* handed over the electro-distribution network and power plants to the terrorist in Kosovo* including Gazivode hydro system, a huge huge asset
* sold of remaining economic assets to NATO exclusively
* sign off on the ultimate NATO agreement granting them access to everything in Serbia no questions asked
* called his own people the worst names imaginable
* glorified Sultan Murat on numerous occasions belittling our saints and heroes
* doubled the amount of foreign debt in 8 years of his rule
* brought in unelected officials such as that Arab guy Lazar Krstic or Prime Minister Burn-a-bich
* under him nepotism, corruption and officials with fake qualifications, even doctorates, became a norm
* total disregard of decency, family values and normalcy in the media
* sold weapons to Ukrainian Nazis and Islamic crazies in Syria
* lied lied and lied…
A politician that is half loyal to his country would have declared a state of occupation and refused to participate in the dialog with the terrorists
Mad Serbian on July 12, 2020 · at 6:17 am EST/EDT
Well said Marko,
* Responsible for death of elite unit in unnecessary Helicopter death for political opportunity (2015)
* Employed War Criminal Tony Blair as a consultant to his government
* Invited War Criminal Gerhard Schröder to SNS party function (2017)
* Involved in arms trafficking in Lybia resulting in deaths of Ambassador and staff (2016)
* Donated $2 million dollars to Clinton Foundation prior to 2016 US Elections
* Donated $1 million to Bosniak Government in Srebrenica after surviving lynching during Potocari Memorial visit (2015) on top of total of $6 million EUR sent to that municipality, reports of millions gone missing?
* Ran dirty media campaign against Serbian political figure in Kosovo & Metohija Oliver Ivanovic who was gunned down in K. Mitrovica under suspicious circumstances (2018) Later employing his widow to a position in his party apparatus…
Not to mention endless other scandals such as Obrenovac floods, Savamala, Jovanica, Gay Pride Parade where brother was assaulted by police…
The list is as long as his 8 years of government!!!
Reply
BeliVuk on July 12, 2020 · at 10:56 am EST/EDT
“Employed War Criminal Tony Blair as a consultant to his government” If this is true this is unforgivable.
For the Serbian commentators:
I would suggest to to copy-paste the above lists every time some “pretend to not know and be upset Vucic-apologist” as soon that person tries to claim Vucic protecting Kosovo. If you don’t get any consistent answer based on common logic I would suggest stop wasting your time and ignore the commentator.
By the way this kind of answer:
Z on July 12, 2020 · at 4:31 am EST/EDT
And yet, people still voted for him decisively. So, I see three possibilities here:
1. Serbian people are too stupid to see what’s going on…or
2. Serbian people don’t care about these issues…or
3. You are misinterpreting the reality
doesn’t count (it is typical for misdirecting the discussion and avoiding inconvenient facts).
For the rest of the not so informed saker-community abut Serbian politics (has anybody read so far?): People making political satire in Serbia are half-joking about them lost their jobs because the real events are so close to satire that their jobs aren’t necessary any more.
Хау јес ноу
One more jumbo comment from you. You either have a remarkable memory, or somebody has prepared info material for you to present. As I have written before, your political rhetoric is from the 1990’s, devoid of reality.
I think the Western media are squeezing the idiot for even more concessions afraid that he may falter in his betrayal now that he has seen the resolve of real patriots during the first night of protests. Here is an article from regnum.ru:
https://regnum.ru/news/polit/3009917.html
Here is a translator if needed:
https://translate.yandex.com/
Great article, quite inspired. Although I am not so sure about the conclusion. I have been hearing many people proposing just such a thing though.
Personally, I would like to try other methods first, as in bringing down legally the massively fraudulent election he just orchestrated through concerted public pressure.
There are currently a couple of thousand complaints at the Administrative Court regarding electoral irregularities, and if enough people become aware of that, of the enormity and brazenness of this fraud, well, we’ll be well on our way of getting something done, let’s just say.
The idea is not mine, but I think its the right one.
Oh and also, the party which Vucic used to be a member of, the Radical Party, has also come out and declared that these are the most irregular elections held in Serbia in the last 30 years, and have called for them to be annulled. Whatever else their faults may be, they are not known to be fond of Soros or color revolutions, BTW.
Funny isn’t it.
A few thousands!? How does that translate to percentages? Let see 6+ million voters, 3+ million turnout, SNS won 60%. Let us say that what you claim is correct and that 10,000 votes were “stolen”. That would amount to 0.3% of the votes.
Surely a big difference (not).
Maybe you should ask yourself why people voted for SNS. I might give you an indication. 5 years in a row economic growth of 4%. Debt reduction for 20%. That alone would explain it.
We are talking about a couple of thousand of voting stations, not individual votes.
There have been so many irregularities it is mind boggling. And all of the media with the exception of a few alternative media and youtube channels such as srbin.info are keeping mum about it.
I dont think Vucic will be able to validate this election, the fraud is just too brazen, too obvious.
And it will seep out to the general public as well, give it some time.
Finally, all masks are down, “Serbian lives matter too” tell us all we need to know.
All this is inspired by BLM, Antifa…and financed by masters of the Universe
.
Johny… is “woke”
Now good news for the the World, this madness will be destroyed in Serbia because 90% of Serbs are just like child in Andersen’s “The Emperor’s new cloths”.
They can see through this bullshit.
Tvrtko, your use of Andersen’s “The Emperor’s new cloths” is great with only slight adjustment: Emperor = Vucic … well that was perfect match
https://scontent-cph2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1794781_647985231929921_915557516_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_sid=2d5d41&_nc_oc=AQnnQANTuWRq_HNzHtQ_tPCTOTySMYbnlo9t5Gx099f17vIIE1pacEFaGZiiAVi7vKM&_nc_ht=scontent-cph2-1.xx&oh=6e1938bc65c41ddd52ce402151459646&oe=5F334EF2
Just like other members of 5% Serbia population (opposition..:-)), you are missing the point.
Who cares if he is emperor or comrade, left, right or whatever… he is doing what he is suppose to do.
Significantly improving life of the people who elected him. Building highways, hospitals, factories.
My dear brothers and sisters,
I do not fully understand or agree with our “Johnny”. The events we are witnessing are far more nuanced and complicated than described . But one thing I can assure you all; the Saker cares deeply for the plight of the Serbian nation and greatly respects and honors the sacrifices our people have made fighting evil throughout the ages. I know he is very willing to give more voices a platform. All you have to do is commit the time to write educational articles.
While this specific article may be all too reminiscent of Otpor or Titoist misdirection, I am pleased to see more direct dialogue and meaningful analysis, between opposing viewpoints. Aside from one definite Vucic mouthpiece, who I’ve called out directly in the past, the commentators all seem to be very concerned with the plight of our people and nation. That is paramount and inspiring to witness. We all should understand that Kosovo must be liberated if our country is to survive.
If we all share this love and respect for our people and the good in humanity, we have to coalesce and help educate one another. Both the pro and anti Vucic sides should understand that both have merit and salient points, but there is only one absolutely empirical truth. Outside forces, from the earliest times of the Romans, have sought to divide and subjugate the Serbs. Today’s machinations, both by Vucic’s party and the opposition, are guided by the enemies of the Serbian people. Vucic, Tadic, Popovic, Kesic , trifunovic, St. Protic and other filth, are all enemies of the people. Vucic may (heavy emphasis on May) , not be a complete enemy of his own people, but he has demonstrated unequivocally that he is incapable of unifying the people and delivering a better future. The best we can hope for, from him, is the refusal to surrender Kosovo.
Rather than bicker and mire ourselves in false absolutes, we should be working together to identify the causes of our people’s continued suffering and begin to formulate real solutions to ensure that Serbia and its people are protected.
This will take time, but if there are enough willing to put the interests of our people, before individual gratification, an incredible Serbian rebirth can begin. Heaven knows we have many centuries of heroic sacrifice to inspire and guide us. The solutions can only be found by learning from our glorious, yet tragic history and why our enemies have worked so hard to erase this history from the minds of our people.
Working together can yield tremendous results. Many wonderful and patriotic Serbian voices can be found here at the Vineyard. Let’s get organized and see how many us are truly willing to make a difference. CCCC
I agree with most of your comment so I’ll just take one thing up and comment on it:
“Vucic may (heavy emphasis on May) , not be a complete enemy of his own people, but he has demonstrated unequivocally that he is incapable of unifying the people and delivering a better future. ”
I’ll tell two stories so take them how ever you wish:
1. The following happened just maybe 2 weeks ago:
I have childhood friend in Serbia, former professional navy military for 15-20 years (civilian since some time after war against Nato) struggling with everyday life, used to have some private businesses but destroyed by some political decisions (I won’t go into details, you’ll have to trust me as with rest of my story). Having some private full-time job plus two extra income jobs on the side.
He is less “patriotic” then me at least that seems like that. He doesn’t care that much about politics though his circle of friends and family contains all political flavors even core sns-supporters (sns=Vucics party) and activists. He is mostly skeptical about all politicians and believes that everything and everybody is fixed/bought (that there are sleeper cells just waiting to surface if necessary which was unfortunately proven to be be true so many times in Serbia that it makes very hard to argue against).
Anyhow I’ve stumbled over some video (interview) about utter corruption and criminal in the Serbias state power production and distribution company (EPS) reveled by the chief security inspector (very courageous women, her gender probably protected he from some more serious personal consequences I would dare to guess) who was even party member of the ruling party at a tiem. She’s got frozen out and is not getting any work assignment for a more then year now (needless to say that nobody got even charged for the crimes). By the way this leads directly to the person who is on short list (3) for the next prime minister of Serbia.
I’ve sent this link to my friend and he afterwards forwarded it to some of his close friends by encrypted messaging platform (he use to tease them with such things).
A couple days later he got very unpleasant phone call from unknown telephone number that he perceived as threat which made him pretty paranoid afterwards suspecting that they are tier-dropping his (and any other) communications.
He is big guy and not easy to scare but this made him scared to some level.
He has asked me to stop sending him such kind of the stuff in the future.
2. Both he and I had recently some tense verbal conflicts with some of our parents regarding politics (he is in much worse situation because he lives in the same hose with his parents so it escalates much easier) and few days ago he was called by our common very close childhood friend from abroad who wanted to ventilate about those hooligans that are sending wrong signals about Serbia and shaming it in the world. He was saying that he would forcefully break down those protestors just if he had a power to do it. All of us are in the beginning of our 50’s.
The protests seem to be slowly dying down and losing impetuous. Vucic is lying low right now, he’s far from stupid and will not do anything to provoke the people further.
If anything, these protests have revealed the savage machinery which rules over the Serbian people and is not afraid to use brutal methods when it feels threatened. Numerically speaking, the protests were not that massive, nor particularly violent, in comparison to Paris and Athens riots, this was a walk in the part, not a single window in the street was damaged or broken, not a single local or store broken into or plundered (compare it to the chaos in the USA) so all talks of ‘violent’ protesters are naked regime propaganda, the provocateurs were from a criminal milieu, working in cahoots with the police; they are Vucic’s thugs who also infested the intelligence services (intelligence services are cancer of Serbian society ever since the Titoist regime).
While the protests were mostly peaceful, the energy and anger towards the president and his criminal party was palpable. It provoked a panicky response from the regime, which had always felt insecure and would react hysterically to the slightest criticism. They arrested random people, used the parliament building to detain those arrested, broke into peoples homes for making anti-regime slogans or were just seen at the protest, even arrested people for Tweets.
I’m afraid we’ll lose energy and fall back in line and let this maniac enforce another lockdown he said he’d enact if he had his way. What’s clear is that Serbia has become a playground for covid fearmongering. I still vividly remember an ad on state TV showing people dying in hospitals and spiced it all up with ravens flying with an ashen grey sky in the background. The symbolism is appalling and the people are being systematically manipulated through fear.
PS The monk who the author of the article called ‘Serbian Savonarola’ has been arrested today, then released. Practically ambushed by traffic police but after refusing to come with them without an explanation as to why he’s being arrested, two people in civilian clothes showed up and told him he has to go with them.
Gloves are off indeed.
I think, and hope, that the first night when the protest was all about Kosovo and Metohija was a test run and a showcase to the SNS-comradery and their chief that the complete betrayal is not going to go down that easily.
The protest was then co-opted by the Sorosoids instructed by their bosses who are Vucic’s bosses too (Vucic, President of Serbia, met with Alexander Soros, official non-entity, on numerous occasions) but I think Vucic got the message. There are still the forces within that work hard to prevent the idiot crossing the last red line. They are the same people who received and operate the S-400 that arrived to Serbia last year but no-one has seen it leave. I think Vucic and his gay Defense Minister who never served a day in the armed forces are not allowed to come near this stuff as the S-400 in Serbia is strategically positioned to counter NATO Romanian installations and defend the Turkish Stream.
You should google Dragan Sormaz who is a top SNS cadre to get a feel of anti-Russian hysteria spewed by this imbecile.
Great! If there are trusted forces within, the best thing would be to not rock the boat. God only knows who might seize power next.
Here is the Russian Ambassador’s comment on the protests in Serbia.
https://mobile.twitter.com/ABocanHarcenko/status/1281160382191632384
Any accusations these are protests are organised and that Russia is behind them are “Russophobic clichees”.
He say it is “particularly sad to see such unfounded allegations being peddled by the state media”
The Centre for Euro Atlantic Studies CEAS had this to say about the protesters.
https://mobile.twitter.com/CEASSerbia/status/1280862242259550208
“These protests are an attempt to weaken the negotiating position of the Republic of Serbia in the normalising of relations with Pristina and our efforts at a compromise that will keep us on the European path”.
CEAS is pro western NGO.
The Russian Ambassador did not mention “state media”. He said: “Some media in the country”.
Meanwhile on Sputnik:
https://rs-lat.sputniknews.com/rusija/202007131122995556-ruska-duma-vucic–kost-u-grlu-za-nato-lobi-na-balkanu/
A message from Russian Duma regarding unrests in Belgrade: Vucic – “a bone in the throat” for NATO lobbyists.
I think this passage is especially interesting, so I’m going to translate it:
“Sada pokušavaju da ga skinu sa vlasti na svaki način, uključujući uvlačenjem u masovne nerede patriotski nastrojenih Srba koji se plaše ’kapitulacije‘, ’predaje suvereniteta nad Kosovom”
Now they are trying to oust him from power in every way possible, including by drawing patriotically oriented Serbs which are afraid for Kosovo into mass unrests
Z _ Thanks for your balanced comments. Many critics of Vucic are apparently unaware that their methods are playing into the hands of Serbia’s opponents. They too like to use accusations without providing any evidence.
ad hominem removed … mod
https://regnum.ru/news/polit/3009917.html
“Blackmail, violence, manipulation: how the Serbian government strangles society”
This is in Russian, obviously.
I’m afraid there’s no translation so far, but the bottom line is the globalists could not wish for a better government than the current Vucic regime, he keeps delivering Serbia to them piece by piece, therefore they have absolutely no interest in bringing him down.
The Serbian people however, have had enough of him, and that is an understatement if there ever was one.
Sputnik news is well known agency backed by Russian State. Elena Panjina is Russian congresswoman and a member of Committee for international relations in State Duma.
Who or what is this regnum? Never heard of it. Nor of Tatyana Stoyanovich (the name seems Serbian). Why do you think that article is relevant? Just because it’s in Russian language? :))
I was waiting for you to ask that, you know.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REGNUM_News_Agency
One of the founders and erstwhile editors is Колеров, Модест Алексеевич
https://www.peoples.ru/state/statesmen/modest_kolerov/index.html
Just two bits from his bio:
From March 2005 to October 2007 – Head of the Presidential Office for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.
Full State Advisor to the Russian Federation of the 1st class (assigned by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 1, 2006).
Also I forgot to add, the Serbian branch of Sputnik news you were referring to, shows signs of being under the influence of Vucic, they consistently avoid criticizing him. And there are also some other odd things they do. Do you want examples?
I don’t think you’d want me to start giving examples.
Why would I care about who was the founder of some insignificant agency two decades ago and what was he doing in 2006. If you want to impress me, you will have to show me who is backing them NOW.
I know who is backing Sputnik: The Russian State.
I also know how to make a difference between a CURRENT member of Russian Duma and some anonymous journalist.
Eagerly awaiting your examples of how mighty Vucic controls Russian state media. :))
Well I’ll give you one example of weird.
Not long after Russia’s ally, general Soleimani was murdered on a public diplomatic mission in Baghdad, the Serbian branch of Sputnik transmitted in tandem, at the same time so to speak, with the novosti.rs Belgrade based newspaper, this article
https://rs.sputniknews.com/regioni/202001141121537236-general-sulejmani-ratovao-protiv-srba-u-bosni-njegovi-vojnici-pocinili-su-najmonstruoznije-zlocine/
Where Soleimani and his troops are accused of monstrous atrocities during the war in Bosnia, without any source, evidence to back such a claim up. Nada, zippo, nothing. That sure did raise some eyebrows.
I am not in a position to comment much further, but the Serbian Sputnik is sure under some interesting influence.
Also I must correct myself, Kolerov is not the former, he is the current editor in chief of the Regnum news agency. Take another look at his bio.
Oh and Regnum is not exactly insignificant:
https://regnum.ru/information/about.html
1-е место в TOP-100 Интернет-СМИ 2009 (рейтинг 100 самых упоминаемых интернет-СМИ составлен на основании данных, полученных системой оперативного мониторинга Webscan N&P с 1 июня 2008 по 1 июня 2009 гг.)
2-е место в ТОП-100 Самых упоминаемых брендов Рунета (крупномасштабный проект по составлению рейтинга брендов, наиболее часто упоминаемых в русскоязычной части сети интернет)
Лауреат Национальной премии России «Премия Рунета — 2006»
Социологический портрет аудитории ИА REGNUM по данным компании TNS Gallup Media
Социологический портрет аудитории ИА REGNUM по данным компании МАСМИ Россия
Yandex translation. Mod:
1st place in the TOP-100 Internet media in 2009 (the ranking of the 100 most mentioned Internet media is based on data obtained by the Webscan n&P operational monitoring system from June 1, 2008 to June 1, 2009).
2nd place IN the top 100 most mentioned brands of Runet (a large-scale project to compile a rating of brands most frequently mentioned in the Russian-speaking part of the Internet)
Winner Of the national award of Russia “Runet Award-2006»
Sociological portrait of the audience of IA REGNUM according to TNS Gallup Media
Sociological portrait of the audience of IA REGNUM according to MASMI Russia
Also, I do apologize for the multiple comments, but you seem to fail to grasp what the rank means
https://eng.mil.ru/en/career/civil_service/service/class_ranks.htm
It is the civil equivalent of a top rank general.
It means he is a top priority advisor, advising the head of state.
It’s a fact that Iran was among the first countries to give support to Bosnian Muslims. As much as I like General Soleimani and his work in Syria, it is true that he was a shady character and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was involved in war in Bosnia. Fortunately, the Iranians have wisen up in the meantime.
OK, you managed to impress me with Kolerov’s rank, but he is still just an advisor…and he also seems to be a shady character.
REGNUM might have high ratings on Russian internet, but almost nobody has heard of it outside of Russia. More importantly:
“REGNUM news agency is a Russian non-governmental international internet news”
while:
“Sputnik is a Russian state news agency, news platform and website”
When it comes to Russia-related news, I think I’m going to stick to a known quantity which is state-approved.
Oh and one more thing:
It says in Kolerov’s bio that he was appointed to position of state advisor 1st class in 2006, but it doesn’t say when that appointed ended. If he is still in that position, that would be quite impressive, but somehow I doubt it.
If he is just a former adviser (from 14 years ago), that is something completely different.
I assume he still holds that rank, and have no reason to think otherwise.
https://www.aravot-en.am/2018/07/12/215619/
And until you show me the указ which shows that it was revoked, or that he was demoted, I have no reason to think otherwise.
Bear in mind, once you are promoted to a rank, demotion or revocation is a serious thing, that happens if you have commited a crime, serious negligence, serious mistake etc. etc.
OK, thing are starting to make more sense now.
There are two things that confused me. One is the word “advisor” in the title. It turns out that he is not really advising anyone. It’s just the name of title (rank) that is held by hundreds of other Russian civil servants that did some important work for the government at some time and got promoted accordingly.
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5_%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5_%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%A4%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B8_1-%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B0_(%D1%81_2001_%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0)
The other thing that confused me was that his bio (that you linked) ends with 2007. Well, it turns out that there is a more comprehensive bio on the net:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87
The interesting part that is missing from your link is this:
October 24, 2007 he headed the public organization ” Free Russia ”
Since July 24, 2009 – Chief Editor of Regnum News Agency
In October 2011, he was elected chairman of the Politburo of the international movement “International Russia”
Since May 16, 2012 – President of the publishing house “Regnum”
In August 2012, declared persona non grata in Latvia
Since May 24, 2013 – the chief editor of the news agency REX
Since December 1, 2014 – the chief editor of the REGNUM news agency
So who and what is Modest Kolerov? A Yeltsin era apparatchik heavily involved in government activities of early Putin years up until 2007…and then, all of a sudden, NOTHING. It sure seem like he fell out of favour. Well, it’s not supprising if one consideres the entities that he did get involved with post 2007.
Free Russia??? International Russia??? Talk about rising eyebrows.
So it seems that Mr. Kolerov is CURRENTLY just another private citizen with views of his own, that have nothing to do with views and policies of the actual Russian Government. I have wasted too much time on this subject, but there is a silver lining. At least in future I will not be wasting any time on REGNUM articles.
I see you are somehow perplexed? Although if you wanted to you could have checked these things yourself.
International Russia? See below:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%89%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%84%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%82
Общероссийский народный фронт
Общероссийский народный фронт (ОНФ) или Народный фронт «За Россию»[3] — коалиция общественно-политических организаций, общественное движение[4], созданное в мае 2011 года по предложению председателя Правительства России Владимира Путина как «объединение на равных» разнонаправленных политических игроков с целью продвижения России вперёд совместными усилиями[5].
/…/
Кроме российских участников к ОНФ присоединились общественные организации из Эстонии, Латвии, Молдовы, Белоруссии и Финляндии[25]. Из примкнувших к ОНФ зарубежных соотечественников было сформировано международное крыло ОНФ — «Интернациональная Россия» ОНФ
All-Russian people’s front
The all-Russian people’s front (onf) or the people’s front For Russia[3] is a coalition of socio — political organizations, a social movement[4] created in may 2011 at the suggestion of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as a “Union on equal terms”of multidirectional political players in order to move Russia forward through joint efforts[5].
/…/
In addition to Russian participants, public organizations from Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Belarus and Finland joined the onf[25]. From the foreign compatriots who joined the onf, the international wing of the onf — “International Russia” onf was formed
Free Russia?
https://www.rusprofile.ru/id/3898328
ОБЩЕРОССИЙСКИЙ СОЮЗ ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫХ ОБЪЕДИНЕНИЙ “СВОБОДНАЯ РОССИЯ”
ALL-RUSSIAN UNION OF PUBLIC ASSOCIATIONS “FREE RUSSIA”
Any more ‘perplexities’ ?
Yeah, I could have checked these things myself, but it was already getting too tiresome. Mr. Kolerov might be more involved in Russian politics than I gave him credit for. The fact, however, still remains that he is just one of the many and his particular role remains unclear.
I’ll remember this episode when viewing future events in Russian-Serbian relations, but I’m certainly not going to take any cues from REGNUM.
Just wondering what could Putin do at this particular point for Serbs? A purely rhetorical question, I’m afraid…
That very image of Vučić paying respects to the Russia’s WW2 fallen haunts me – standing there along the select best friends of Russia – while sticking out in every sense of the word like a sore thumb, a misplaced telephone pole, бандера… ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg17G-gaxcI , from about 1:34:00).
Putin knows … but has to put-up with him for now I suppose…
Oh he knows alright. He’s coming to Belgrade in the fall. We’ll see how that goes.