09.07.2020.
Minister Vulin: Violence on the streets is an attempt to forcibly seize power and to provoke civil war in Serbia
- We have terrible violence on the streets, we have an attempted coup d’état, we have an attempt to seize power by force and an attempt to provoke civil war in Serbia. It cannot be described or explained in other words. There is no reason for that, there is no reason to set the House of the National Assembly on fire, to set the City Hall in Novi Sad on fire, to attack the police, to beat people on the streets, to endanger people’s lives and the property of the citizens of Serbia – said the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin on the “Novo jutro” programme on TV Pink, when asked to comment on the events of the previous two nights.
According to him, all the things that we preserved in the previous years and all the things that we fought for and created – political stability, peace, security, all that could be in danger now because there is an attempt to take power without elections.
Speaking about the things that could be seen on the streets of Serbia the previous two nights, Minister Vulin emphasized that it cannot and must not happen in an organized, civilized Serbia, as it was in the past years, and that there is no excuse for that.
Minister Vulin said, all things considered, that it was obviously a coordinated action and that everything that happened did not happen by chance, and that it was carefully and meticulously planned.
Speaking about the broader context of the events, he pointed out that “the only thing allowed in Serbia is to hate Aleksandar Vučić and all his family members and everyone who shares his political views“.
When asked to comment on the reactions in the region to the current events in Serbia, Minister Vulin pointed out that all the media in the region, primarily in Croatia, reacted in exactly the same way, assessing that “this amount of attacks and hatred directed at Serbia is not accidental”.
- There is evidently an orchestrated campaign, because they do not want a successful and stable Serbia. But this is an excellent way for our enemies’ dreams to finally come true – emphasized Minister Vulin.
He points out that all this is happening before very difficult and important meetings that President Vučić has in the next few days, when “he is fighting for the fate of our people and the preservation of Kosovo and Metohija, and when there is a civil war on the horizon at home, when there is a threat of armed rebellion and coup d’état” which affects his position in international relations, which is significantly aggravated by this, as he estimates.
He emphasized that these things never occur without an outside influence, “that it never happens by chance, so the consequences must ensue”.
- The consequences will be exploited in international relations. Yesterday, some Croatian politicians and MPs said that they will interrupt Serbia’s European integration because of the violence and police brutality. How did the police deserve such judgement? Those people were doing their job and it is regulated by law when and where they should go and how they should act. They were sent on a task to protect the property and security of all the citizens of Serbia – Minister Vulin said.
Minister Vulin pointed out that, after such occurrences, there is no point in tightening the measures against the coronavirus.
- This has nothing to do with the coronavirus and I wonder who will be responsible for the fact that hundreds and thousands of people got infected yesterday and the day before yesterday – said the Minister of Defence.
According to him, Serbia is a strong and organized country which will manage to cope with the situation and which has the force of law, and he said that “either we will respect the law, or Serbia is not a democratic country”.
- This has nothing to do with democracy, nothing to do with the coronavirus, the sole purpose of this is to overthrow Aleksandar Vučić. We can’t do it in the elections, so let’s overthrow him on the streets. The idea of all this is to overthrow the government on the streets, to do it with violence, to carry out a coup d’état. As a citizen of this country, I am interested in establishing the rule of law and that every person who raised their hand against a police officer, who tried to set fire to the House of the National Assembly or who jeopardized someone’s life, property or security, must bear legal consequences. We have to preserve stability and peace in Serbia, we have to preserve what we bitterly fought for, and that is for Serbia to be a safe, stable and peaceful country. This cannot be the right model of behaviour – Minister Vulin concluded.
