Interview between journalist Mihael Martens and the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić it took place in the insistence of the first and the mischief of the second. Thus, Vučić again did not provide evidence that he is allegedly being overthrown by Western services or that the protests are being financed from abroad.
"I'm not making things up to find the culprits for what's happening in Serbia," Vučić said to the Frankfurt newspaper, and reports Deutsche Welle.
"I never said that everything is organized from the outside. But it is well financed from abroad, because these people do not have enough money to pay for it themselves. For example: those students who blocked the universities still have to eat three times a day."
It is "mostly" paid by foreign countries, he adds.
Vučić now explains the former claim that some German foundations are financing the protests by saying that he has evidence, but does not show it because he does not want to burden the relations between Belgrade and Berlin.
"I presented that evidence to those in charge. They said that it was simply their job, that's how they support non-governmental organizations, that's how they want to try to influence society," claimed Vučić. According to him, the foundations are not destroying him, but the organizations they finance.
Vučić says that many students and others in the protest are "decent people" who were "misled by various information", but that they "taught him a lesson in many things". "I got the message. Not from paid professional protesters, but from decent protesters."
Elections when Expo is ready
Vučić said that the elections will "probably" be held at the end of 2026, "maybe even earlier", says Vučić in conclusion. "But we must first finish the preparations for Expo 2027 in Belgrade."
As Martens describes in the intertext of the interview, when it came to the election and election conditions, Vučić called the President of the Assembly and former Prime Minister Ana Brnabić in the middle of the interview, who said over the loudspeaker that Serbia had implemented dozens of ODIHR recommendations to improve election conditions, and that the opposition had left the parliamentary working group that dealt with it.
When the conversation turns to accusations that a sound cannon was used against the demonstrators on March 15, Martens reminds that official Belgrade also called the Russian FSB service, which confirmed that no acoustic weapons were allegedly used.
Vucic protests. He says they called the FBI first. And he asks the journalist why he does not convey to his readers the announcements of the Russian services in which Vučić is attacked. What for example?
"The Russian foreign intelligence service SVR claimed that we sell ammunition to Ukraine. I am a political veteran, I understand the language of such announcements. Please explain that announcement to your readers," says Vučić. "That was without a doubt the most insulting statement against Serbia that I have ever seen."
Why did he ask for an interview?
In the introduction to the interview for the weekly edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, it was explained how the conversation came about in the first place.
Namely, Martens recently published the text "False friends" in which it was mentioned that Vučić "marks Putin as an ally". A few hours later, Vučić's people asked if the president could answer "some points that are simply not true."
Vučić now insists that he does not call Russia an "ally" but friends. "Serbia is trying to maintain good relations with Russia and we will continue to do so. We don't have to do the same as everyone else."
"But does this mean that we support the violation of international law and international order? No, we do not do that. We have never said that we support the entry of troops into foreign territories. We have always supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine and we will continue to support it," says Vucic.
When asked why Aleksandar Vulin talks about "allies" in Moscow, Vučić says that Vulin is neither in his party, nor a minister, nor does he make decisions.
