IFIMES Director: Obradović, Đilas and Others Leading Protests in Serbia Are Not an Alternative to Vučić

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The director of the International Institute for Middle Eastern and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) from Ljubljana, Zijad Bećirović, said that the protests in Serbia cannot be viewed in black and white terms, i.e., that on one side there are good guys and on the other bad guys.

It is, said the IFIMES director, a complex relationship that illustrates the fact that the opposition in Serbia has not justified its social role as a corrective to society, and that today the same opposition is trying to take over power with the help of citizens.

"Now we have a case where the same opposition is trying to use citizens' protests to take over power through violent methods," said Bećirović, as reported by the Patria agency.

The citizens' protests "1 of 5 million" have been held since November 30, 2018, in several cities in Serbia, where thousands of citizens are protesting against the government of Aleksandar Vučić.

The trigger for the protests was an attack on one of the founders of the Alliance for Serbia, the leader of the Left of Serbia, Borko Stefanović.

Citizens are demanding the resignations of the heads of the public RTV service RTS, as well as other Serbian media, which they accuse of working for the government and not informing the public objectively.

Bećirović says that the government of Aleksandar Vučić should in any case heed the demands of the citizens, but, he said, it is important to separate from that the opposition leaders who are leading the protests in Belgrade today.

"At the head of the protests we have Boško Obradović, who is the bearer of the political idea of Dimitrije Ljotić. So, these are fascist forces," said Bećirović, noting that at the head of the protests is also Dragan Đilas, who carries the mortgage of past rule, often linked to crime, while the role of Vuk Jeremić, said Bećirović, does not need special comment.

"The question arises whether they are an alternative to the current government in Belgrade," said Bećirović.

He believes that at a time when the Brussels dialogue between Belgrade and Priština is entering its final phase, Serbia needs stability, in order to resolve the Kosovo issue - for the sake of Serbia and Kosovo themselves, but also for the region and European stability.

Bećirović accused intelligence services of creating unrest in Serbia, including the Intelligence Service of Croatia.

"The Croatian intelligence service is involved in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the protests in Belgrade are also being linked to the Croatian intelligence service. Croatia has thus become a destabilizing factor in the region," said Bećirović, adding that Croatia had shown a bad policy towards the region earlier as well, such as in the case with Slovenia, when it did not want to recognize the arbitration court ruling in the case of the Bay of Piran.