Vucevic Tells SNS Supporters to Ignore Provocations

Milos Vucevic, president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), called on party supporters on September 23 not to respond to provocations from the blockaders, after threats of rape targeting women who support Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic appeared on social media. Vucevic posted the message on Instagram, saying the blockaders’ campaign had descended into naked violence.

The trigger was a video posted on the Instagram account sviublokade.fdu, which SNS Main Board deputy president Ana Brnabic had already flagged. According to her, certain scenes in the video, such as a bar of soap shown lying on the floor, amount to unacceptable allusions to violence in prison. Separately from that video, another clip circulated on social media in which a young woman says that SNS supporters, whom she calls “cacike,” will be raped. Neither Kurir nor other sources named her or said where the video was filmed.

Vucevic was blunt in his post:

“It is very important that at this moment we do not fall for their provocations, and that, as nationally responsible people, we once again call for peace and stability, so that we do not plunge the country into chaos that would suit only the enemies of Serbia.”

He also had a message directly for party supporters:

“When they attack you on the street and provoke you, please do not take the bait and remain dignified. We are fighting against violence, we stand for unity and dialogue, and that is why our list will preserve stability and win the election on October 25.”

What Did Vucic Tell Kaja Kalas?

Aleksandar Vucic, who heads the “Aleksandar Vucic, United Serbia” list, addressed the threats the same day from New York. The Serbian president is in New York, where he is attending the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on September 22 and 23, and according to Kurir, he also discussed the threats with EU High Representative Kaja Kalas. In a video message on his Instagram account “avucic,” he said:

“Attacking women, threatening them with rape, threatening to run them over on bicycles and everything else is the only thing they have shown, besides pedaling, that they actually know how to do.”

Vucic also announced that he would return to Serbia on September 28, where, he said, he would “lead the fight” until the election. “We will defend and preserve Serbia, and people like that will never lead our country,” he said in a separate address, adding that he was grateful to all the women in Serbia for their support. He also laid out the schedule of major pre-election rallies: the first in Belgrade on October 3, followed by Novi Sad and Kragujevac, with the final one in Nis.

Brnabic Gathers the List’s Female Candidates

Brnabic met the same day with female candidates on the list, including Natasa Tasic Knezevic and Rajka Matovic. Sources differ on where the meeting took place: Tanjug and RTV place it in Novi Sad, while B92, Novosti and 24sedam do not specify a location. Brnabic said:

“Women are the backbone of every society, and at a time when women are under the fiercest attack from the Students’ List, we talked about our plan and program and about the future of Serbia. Here we have women with their own names and surnames, different careers, different professions and experiences, but all of them represent one single, united Serbia.”

At the same gathering, Tasic Knezevic said that tearing down the country means tearing down an entire system, while Matovic said the policy Vucic has pursued is visible and measurable through its results.

Commissioner Warns of Misogyny

Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Milan Antonijevic told Tanjug on September 24 that the campaign ahead of the October 25 parliamentary election contains a good deal of misogyny and disregard for women’s right to engage in politics, as well as examples of older citizens’ voting rights being undermined and a negative campaign directed at citizens of Republika Srpska over voting in the upcoming election. He also cited the case of a Radio Belgrade journalist who, he said, received “a barrage of insults and threats” after interviewing the president of the republic. “All of this shows that the campaign has so far not stayed within the bounds of the law, and that this needs to be addressed,” Antonijevic said.

This is not the first dispute over the tone of the campaign ahead of the election scheduled for October 25. Srpske Novine previously reported on the letter Brnabic sent to the European Parliament regarding the student movement FDU’s video about Vucic.