BELGRADE, December 24. /TASS/. The pro-Western opposition supporters' attempted takeover of the Belgrade municipal administration building was caused by an external influence and was aimed at undermining the country's sovereignty, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said during a national emergency address.
"It is obvious that this <...> is the product of numerous major geopolitical conditions, with the assistance of which they are attempting to destroy Serbia's independence and sovereignty. We shall defend Serbian freedom since it is the most important value. We will defend our country's independence, autonomy, and sovereignty," he said.
According to Vucic, the attempted takeover of the Belgrade municipal government building is not a revolution - Serbian law enforcement authorities are in complete control of the situation. "I want to assure you, Serbian citizens, that despite the dramatic scenes, there is no need to be concerned. There is no revolution, they will not get away with any of this, and we are trying not to damage any of the random demonstrators with a calm, peaceful approach," he said.
He also added that foreign intelligence services warned Serbian security forces ahead of time about the impending unrest and intentions by opposition sympathizers to capture the Belgrade city government building. "We have been warning about the external factor, about what is happening, for several days. Many pretended to be naive and refused to hear or see what was going on. We thank those foreign services that made it clear that they knew exactly what was being planned and provided information to our special services, who responded quickly and knew exactly what the perpetrators were planning," he said.
Earlier on Sunday, supporters of the opposition coalition "Serbia against Violence", who started a series of rallies near the Republican Election Commission building in the center of Belgrade on the evening of December 18, tried to storm the city administration building. Protesters earlier gathered for another protest rally near the Election Commission building. The demonstrators blocked Kralja Milana Street.