MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. Street protests in Serbian capital Belgrade are being organized according to Western templates used previously in fomenting civil unrest in other nations, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing.
"A week after the snap elections to the Serbian parliament, under the pretext of alleged falsifications, attempts have been made to carry out a coup d’etat using the street protests in Belgrade," she said. "Well-known Western methodological templates are being applied, which have already been used repeatedly in a number of countries, with invariably tragic results," the diplomat emphasized.
The spokeswoman pointed out that the role of instigators "was played, as usual, by so-called activists mobilized by various structures financed and managed from the outside." "It is obvious that those who initiated and participated in this shameful anti-legal foray get energized from destabilizing the situation. And this has absolutely nothing to do with the elections. We know this from our own experience," Zakharova said.
According to her, these people are committing violence against Serbia itself, against the Serbian people, against employees of the Interior Ministry and other government bodies who are simply doing their duty in protecting their fellow citizens. "Cynically, they pretend that they are fighting for justice, and they are talking again about human rights, but by their own behavior they are revealing their real attitude towards their declared values," the diplomat added.
Members of the Serbia Against Violence opposition bloc, who began rallying regularly in front of the Republican Election Commission building in Belgrade on December 18, tried to storm the city hall building on December 24 but were dispersed by police. The demonstrators used flag poles to tear down the door and break the windows, throwing stones and beer cans and destroying surveillance cameras. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned that opposition protests would lead to nothing as "elections are the only way to change the government" in the Balkan country. Still, opponents of the country’s leadership continue to challenge the victory of the ruling party-led coalition in Belgrade’s city council election.