A sad gathering on a holiday

Those who listened to this speech, and there are fewer and fewer of them because people want to protect their mental health, had another opportunity to make sure that the person of the "subject institution" met the so-called dark triad, a well-known psychological term that you may encounter in horror and crime series. Sometimes it is stupid to psychologize in politics, but the psychology of a person who has become an untouchable sovereign determines the lives of all of us, the present, the future, and even the past. There is so much to talk about. The dark triad is, for example, a technical phrase that implies that three interconnected but different personality traits - unfortunately for those who know them and deal with them - have merged into one person.

The first characteristic of "triads" is narcissism, the primal need for the admiration of others. There is also Machiavellianism, which means manipulative behavior that counts more on emotions than on the ratio of the manipulated. They are completely unencumbered by good taste and moral restrictions, the only thing that matters to them is achieving their goal. There is also a third trait: emotional coldness is most often covered up by impulsive behavior, feigned emotionality. They never feel ashamed, they lie as they please, and sometimes they don't even know the truth.

An "incompetent institution" was talking about some three billion foreign currency that were invested in its demolition, which were probably given to the students by those who, again according to him, support and admire him. If true, it would be the largest foreign investment of all time. He also announced that he will write a book that will become a world bestseller, about how he defeated the citizens of his country. Talked about the impregnable declaration on Vojvodina, which seems to prevent the secession of the province, although even with magnetic resonance, no one can be found who is in favor of such an idea, except perhaps the subject Viktor Orban. It is like if the editorial office of "Vremena" published and promoted a declaration condemning and preventing the attack of astral bodies on our weekly newspaper.

"The speeches left the expected impression on me. Already seen. Nothing particularly new. Dealing with the world powers, the organizers of the 'color revolution' and promoting myself as a world bestseller writer burned my ears. The most important thing is that he used his rhetoric to make it clear that he is not giving in and that he is not backing down. On the contrary, he called on the students to 'declare victory' and return to the benches, which means they are admitting defeat", says former politician, MP, now retired and activist, Ratko Filipović from Mitrovica.

photo: strahinja aćimović / tanjug

WHY SREMSKA MITROVICA?

All our interlocutors - Green-Left Front provincial deputy from Sremska Mitrovica Tatjana Ljubišić, Filipović and a professor of the Mitrovica high school who asked not to introduce him by name - give more or less the same answer to the question of why Sremska Mitrovica was chosen for the meeting of Vučić and his team. Because of the senseless Declaration on Vojvodina, a provincial town had to be chosen. Novi Sad was abandoned because it was estimated that there was the greatest resistance and that anything could happen. In addition, the goal of the rally was to encourage its own electorate, and it is quite represented in Srem - at least until recently.

There is, of course, the mayor of Mitrovica, the "famous" Nedimović, who is very cooperative and dexterous. Finally, and certainly not the least important, nearby is Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, Republika Srpska, from which a fairly large entourage arrived, mainly Dodik's clientele and people from public companies. The buses used to transport the protesters were parked all over the city, and were seen in the surrounding towns and even in Novi Sad. It is difficult to estimate, but there were at least several hundred of them from the neighboring state.

CITY BEFORE NOON

Tatjana Ljubišić tells us that on the morning of Sretenji, the town seemed ghostly. She often walks and has never seen Sremska Mitrovica so empty. She went from end to end of the wider center and literally met no one.

"Everything reminded me of 1999, when they announced the eclipse of the sun and when we received instructions from RTS to enter the houses, lower the blinds and not go out for a living. Completely empty Mitrovica, not a single person anywhere. And then buses filled with some strange people started to arrive", says Ljubišić.

Filipović says that the people of Mitrovica met the gathering quite coldly and resignedly. The city was eerily empty before noon that day, he points out. The day before, it was forbidden to park and leave vehicles in the meeting area and the city center.

"A number of citizens organized themselves and went to Kragujevac, and another part to the blockade in Šid, which was held on the same day. The opposition parties in Mitrovica called on the citizens to ignore the progressive meeting and do nothing to disturb the necessary public focus on the meeting in Kragujevac. The assembly itself seemed to me to be the procrastination of an involuntary task. The visitors were scattered all over the city, least of all in front of the stage. They waited a long time for the meeting to start and lost focus", says Filipović.

The professor of the Mitrovica High School says that, if the years of study are excluded, he has spent his entire life in Mitrovica. "My Sremska Mitrovica has never looked worse, everything was closed and congested long before the rally. God forbid it took an ambulance or fire engine to pass. That would end in disaster. I felt like a stranger in my own town", he says and adds that he is absolutely sure that there were "a few thousand" of Mitrovcans at the rally. And those who are from the "closer leadership", led by Nedimović.

photo: tanjug video

WHAT IS THE PROFILE OF THE PEOPLE WHO CAME TO THE GATHERING?

According to the interlocutors, there are several characteristic groups of those who came to the meeting. The first are high-ranking officials, such as speakers Milica Zavetnica, Željko Mitrović and others, who immediately after the speech drove off in an unknown direction in overpriced cars with low registration. The police provided them with a quick departure, because perhaps they were in a hurry to sum up their impressions on some farm with expensive wine.

The second group consists of progressive, low-ranking officials, nicely dressed. They were in the front rows at the rally. When asked why they came, they didn't have any valid answer either. They talked about the declaration on Vojvodina, but they did not know what was in the document, nor who wanted to secede it. There were also some people full of hatred, who sent insults and threats, primarily to the journalists of N1.

"We decided to do small guerilla actions during that day. While we were putting up posters with a bloody hand, an elderly gentleman attacked me, pulling my arm. I have fat. He threatened the cameraman with a stone. I was also present when Ksenija Pavkov was threatened with death by some figure from Republika Srpska. Colleagues entered the crowd and talked to people. Mostly no one knew how to explain why he was there. Those in more expensive clothing mostly talked about the secession of Vojvodina, but they didn't know who the separatist was or anything else," says Ljubišić.

There were also extreme fans of Crvena Zvezda in some kind of corral, all with torches. Brought from Belgrade, they were part of the "spectacle", and their goal was obvious - to bless the president with roars and torches. As well as to instill fear in whoever they think needs it.

The largest number of "demonstrators" were, as was evident, people from vulnerable classes. They came here to earn money. They received from five to seven thousand dinars, according to their own admission. Those from Republika Srpska were paid either 50 euros or 100 convertible marks. They are also from vulnerable groups or their arrival was a party assignment. Many were blackmailed, especially those from public companies - primarily utilities - from all parts of the country, as well as the smaller entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Especially those who do not have permanent employment contracts but are on temporary jobs.

"The stories are incredible. One of our elderly fellow citizens, who is originally from Trebinje, was called by a school friend and asked where the bus station was, several hours before the rally. He said that he wants to leave Mitrovica, because he was deceived. They brought him from Trebinje by telling him and the team that they were taking them to a concert by Baja Mali Knindža. People were wandering around the city, and the vast majority were not even at the meeting, nor did it occur to them to go there", says Ljubišić.

The professor says that he has fought against discrimination all his life and that he does not divide people by nation, race or religion, but he had to notice that many members of the Roma population arrived on the buses. He even met some Nepalese and Indians who work on some construction sites in Belgrade. All of them, most of them don't hide it, came for the daily wage. Their incomes are extremely low and those five-six-seven thousand dinars mean a lot to them, he says.

The organizers had enough money to provide an overpriced sound system, spend who knows how much money on transportation and per diems, and who knows what else, but they were not interested in providing adequate "wet nodes", the famous toi-toi. Pictures of people defecating in all the inappropriate places of Sremska Mitrovica were a tasteless hit on social networks. Let the one who has never been oppressed throw a stone!

photo: sava radovanović / tanjug

HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE THERE??

The interlocutors agree with the estimates that there were between 21000 and 23000 people at the meeting. However, a much larger number of people arrived in Mitrovica, they claim. Many were sitting in bars, getting to know the city, walking along the quay, going to shops, while the "incompetent institution" spoke with tears in their eyes.

The professor says that it is difficult to estimate, but maybe at that moment there were at least as many people wandering around the streets of the city or sitting in bars and eating in front of shops as there were at the rally. Some sources say that they saw Nedimović personally forcing people to return to the meeting, those who tried to squirm away at the moment of the speech.

Some stores ran out of beer and chokanjčić. Alcohol was shaken in incredible quantities, and restaurateurs profited. They did not have time to serve all the guests, who were standing in front of the cafe and restaurant.

"Circus and fair all over the city. Some drunk people were brought into the bus a few hours before the start of the rally. Everything seemed very sad", says the professor.

AFTER THE MEETING

And after the meeting, and those pictures were a hit on social networks, Sremska Mitrovica looks like a giant landfill. The activists of the Kreni-promeni movement and many others came to the aid of the communal workers. High school students also called on citizens to help clean up. The city was cleaned up, thousands and thousands of those big black garbage bags were used up.

"If you stop and cry, that's what the city looked like," says the professor.

In the morning, when activists and communal workers had already cleaned the city, Mayor Nedimović held a performance. In front of the cameras of the regime media, he picked up four pieces of paper and then it went on the air.

The professor of Mitrovica High School says that Sremska Mitrovica has changed significantly in recent months. In November and the first half of December, small protest rallies were held in this city due to the tragedy in Novi Sad. At some of them, only about twenty people gathered, and then there was an upheaval. When the high school graduates of Mitrovica rebelled and took to the streets. After that, the protests are more and more numerous, fear has been defeated.

VENTILATION OF SREMSK MITROVICA

It was the high school students from Mitrovica with their colleagues from Ruma and Šid that organized a joint meeting in Mitrovica the day after the progressive meeting called "Srem solidarno". According to some estimates, there were between eight and nine thousand Sremacians at this protest. Young people, about a hundred of them, came on foot from Ruma. They said that with this gathering, the day after the Meeting, they want to send a message that Srem is still "the land of free people". A disinfectant in a white suit also appeared at the protest, and some people carried lamps.

"Two completely diametric sets. With the atmosphere of love and tolerance, the city was cleansed of the darkness and hatred sown the previous day. Love, youth and optimism won, fear and hopelessness did not pass!" says Filipović.