Photo: Strahinja Aćimović / TanjugVučić in the Serbian Parliament
A heated discussion took place on Tuesday in the Serbian Parliament, at the first special session of the new convocation, but not because of the final election of the new Serbian government, almost six months after the parliamentary elections, but after the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, presented to the deputies the "Report on the negotiation process with temporary institutions of self-government in Pristina".
Unlike last summer, when Vučić spoke about Kosovo in front of the almost one-party composition of the parliament and the only one who contradicted him was the deputy of the Albanian minority Šaip Kamberi, now the president of the SNS and Serbia faced numerous opposition MPs.
In his introductory speech, Vučić said that "as long as he can influence, he will neither indirectly nor directly recognize the unilateral declared independence of Kosovo, nor will he give up the legitimate fight for state and national interests and the fight for respect for international law", but also noted that "real politics cannot rest on myths and phantasmagoria" and "that the people's wishes are maximalist, and the possibilities are scarce".
He also pointed out that he does not believe in an agreement with the current leadership of Kosovo, as well as that the most powerful countries of the West will always stand behind the Albanians, and that "the danger in Kosovo is close, objective and serious", but that Serbia did not participate in any way in generating a crisis.
"Despite everything, Serbia is consistently committed to dialogue, aware that peaceful resolution of problems is the only reasonable way. Everything else leads to escalation and potential conflict, which would be a disaster for the entire country", said Vučić, adding that "Serbia is not as weak as it was in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2008".
Until the conclusion of this text (Tuesday evening), ten heads of parliamentary groups expressed their opinion on the Report, and from the opposition, which provoked Vučić's long answers, the already mentioned Šaip Kamberi (PDD), Boško Obradović (Dveri), Radomir Lazović (We are not drowning Belgrade), Nebojša Zelenović (Moramo – Zajedno), Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski (Zavetnici), Zoran Lutovac (DS) and Miroslav Aleksić (NS).
In addition to the already old targets (Lazović, Lutovac and Aleksić), who received harsher responses from the "reporter", Vučić responded particularly critically and extensively to the leader of Zavetnik, calling her speech "demagogic and senseless" and assessing that her "policy of carelessness and irresponsibility would destroy earth at the speed of lightning".
Riot on the Sava Embankment
A protest "Rebellion against the mafia - we want the river" was held near the Sava bank in New Belgrade, where citizens once again asked the authorities to protect the Sava embankment and remove hundreds of illegally built structures along the river. The speakers warned that the embankment was drilled due to illegal construction, reminded that the embankment protects the city from floods and that there are wells in the area from which the city is supplied with drinking water.
"This government does not respect the law or the profession and first allowed Tomislav Nikolić a house for his sons, himself, drivers... Such crime has not been recorded anywhere on the planet", said Oliver Ilić, in front of the informal association "Savski Nasip", which for years has been demanding that the embankment is placed under the protection of the state. They remind that in the last decade along the coast, despite the messages of government representatives about the fight against illegal construction, about a hundred more such buildings have sprung up on the Sava Embankment.
Support was also provided by representatives of Novi Sad associations that defend the Danube bank from the construction of "Novi Sad na vodi", as well as representatives of several opposition parties.
The new mayor, Aleksandar Šapić, did not comment on the messages from the protest, although the topic is well known to him and he has spoken about it many times. While he was the president of the Novi Beograd municipality, he justified himself that he did not have enough authority to remove illegal houses and catering rafts, and since his election to the new position he has been saying that the problem will be solved when the city government gets the support of the police because, as he explained, "the only thing that stops force is force, not yellow tape and one inspector". Recently, Šapić promoted himself on Avala, during the demolition of an illegal building in the natural property protection zone, and said that he is extremely serious when it comes to illegal construction, but for now, apparently, he is still not thinking of seriously going to the epicenter of illegal construction on the coast Sava.
Reorganization of PUK from Prokuplje
About a hundred employees of the Public Utility Company "Hammeum" from Prokuplje protested in front of the City Assembly because they practically lost their jobs after the new reorganization of the public sector, and they requested a meeting with the mayor Aleksandar Simonović (SNS).
Namely, last week the new Public Company "Gradski Vodvodsk" was registered, which took over the collection, purification and distribution of water from PUC "Hammeum" and 159 workers, while 108 remained in the old PUC. And since the city government has already decided to entrust the communal activities of charging for parking, market services and maintenance of greenery through a concession to the private company "Demetra RB" from Belgrade, the employees of "Hammeum" practically have nothing to do and hence they are justifiably afraid that the company will be liquidated. , just like the Sports Center recently, when 70 workers lost their jobs.
Those gathered in front of the City Assembly pointed out that party affiliation was the main criterion when hiring workers and reminded that "Hammeum" was founded ten years ago, after the Serbian Progressive Party came to power, by unifying the former public companies, under the pretext that it would work better and more profitably , but that during that time the company changed 11 progressive directors and was eventually brought to ruin.
The rebellious workers have announced a new protest in front of the City Assembly for today (Thursday), and they expect the mayor to have time for them this time.
Consequences of pollution
The latest list published on the website of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) "The World factbook" shows that Serbia is the first in the world in terms of the death rate from pollution.
According to CIA estimates, our country has a coefficient of 16,39 deaths per 1000 inhabitants per year, and the top ten on this black list, among 229 countries in the world, are all European: Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, Belarus and Croatia.
And the reports of the European Environmental Protection Agency show that we have the highest death rate in Europe from pollution, and in 2020, Belgrade was the first in terms of air pollution on the list of European cities with more than a million inhabitants.
"We currently have ecological anarchy. None of the polluters have been punished, the state is not interested in it, they are either not capable of applying the law or directly participate in a corrupt system that leads to that pollution. Serbia is ecologically neglected because there is neither the political will nor the implementation of laws, and those mistakes are paid for with lives. But someone must be responsible for the fact that we are the first on the list", Bojan Simišić, an activist of the "Ekostraža" association, explained to the daily "Danas".
Selection match in JSD Partizan
The Yugoslav sports club Partizan had two presidents in two days at the beginning of this week - Milorad Vučelić (in addition to the president of the football club) and Ostoja Mijailović (president of the basketball club), and both of them claimed to be the legal and legitimate leaders of the society that gathers 27 clubs. Vučelić has held the presidential position in JSD since 2015, his mandate expired two years ago and since then the holding of the electoral assembly has been delayed.
At the end of August, Mijailović announced his candidacy and harshly criticized the work of Vučelić in Partizan, the latter retaliated fiercely with a statement, and the trenches were then dug. The Assembly of the JSD was held in the premises of the Football Club, and the goalkeeper was played by the director of the club, Miloš Vazura, who, with the support of private security, prohibited the entry of representatives of several clubs, which forced Mijailović to hold a parallel Assembly with his supporters in the premises of the Partizan Tennis Club.
At that assembly, 52 out of a total of 88 delegates attended and voted for Mijailović, while Vučelić said that the session at the Partizan stadium was not held due to the lack of a quorum, and that before that he and his followers prevented the coup, and that "Mijailović's assembly at the Tennis Club is not legitimate or legal, according to any regulation or statute", and announced a new electoral assembly.
And the most important thing: Vučelić revealed that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, told him that he was not behind Mijailović and that he did not want to interfere in the Partizan elections, thus comforting himself and his supporters, because the presence of Novak Nedić, the Secretary General of the Government of Serbia and Vučić's confidant, in Mijailović's campaign and lobbying, it was clearly stated who is listed with the "supreme authority".
Everything was confirmed a day later, when Mijailović officially became the president of the Partizan Sports Club, as his name was registered in the Agency for Business Registers as a legal representative. ¶
Why is there nothing else between the overcome regime and the changes? What does the regime mean when it says it is defending Serbia? Why is the Student Movement indomitable? Who has the knowledge and real experience, and who leads without a day of work experience outside of politics? And why students win
After almost two years of protests, hundreds of kilometers walked, arrests, persecution and unprecedented social mobilization, Serbia is holding elections that could mark the end of a political era. Sociologist Marija Babović tells "Vreme" that the hope for change has not been so great since October 5, 2000, but she also warns of the danger that, if changes are not made, the country will face an even tougher authoritarian regime.
Their only weapon now is the media they control: like, we don't have an agenda, which is not true; as, we will betray the national interest, which is not true. One of their arguments is that we are afraid to go to the debate with Vučić. They do not understand that it is their punishment. This is a punishment for Aleksandar Vučić, who for 14 years conducted exclusively a monologue. For fourteen years he did not allow anyone any kind of dialogue, and now he would like to be rewarded or pardoned with the opportunity to talk to us. Well, he won't be able to. What he sowed is now reaping
These elections are not elections about Serbia's membership in the European Union, Kosovo and Metohija, gay marriage, tax policy or any other single political issue. Although parties on the fringes of political power try to impose these themes, at the heart of the upcoming political election is a much simpler dilemma: change or preserve the existing order. For more than a year now, surveys have shown that this is the primary dilemma on the ballot
In the RS, 19.800 people registered for the elections in Serbia, who will be able to vote at 28 polling stations. It remains unknown how many of them will cross the Drina on October 25 and vote in Serbia. In any case, I do not believe that the voters from Republika Srpska are the ones who will decide the winner of the elections in Serbia. Realistically, the voters from Republika Srpska can influence a little, but it seems that they are symbolically very important to both Vučić and the opposition.
There is, literally, no difference between the one who claims it is day in the middle of the night, or the one who claims to be a giraffe, from the claims we read on billboards: that Vučić is working to unify Serbs and that Serbia is doing better and better day by day.
The pre-election arrests due to the alleged "overthrow of the state" testify to the regime's panic. The bad news for them is - they can't arrest the whole people who decided to defend themselves from progressive beatings and election theft
The ring that tightens around Ćaciland Student list is getting narrower. Because there are more and more spoiled people who see the false prophet for what he is: a street obscener who is fighting Serbia
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