BELGRADE, June 30. /TASS/. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expressed gratitude to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for his attentive attitude to the events in Serbia and said that the country will maintain public order lawfully.
"I would like to thank my Russian friends for seeing all this and [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergey [Lavrov] for understanding it perfectly, and thanks to Russian experts for noticing - Vucic is a tough nut to crack, I will prove it. I am not like those who fled Serbia. I will fight for Serbia's freedom," the Vecernje Novosti newspaper quoted Vucic as saying.
The only way power can change hands in Serbia is through elections, Vucic stressed. "Political power in Serbia is won in elections when they are called by the relevant bodies, not when a gang of hooligans demand that. We will maintain order. I thank our Russian friends for their consideration, for understanding well what is going on and assessing the situation wisely," the Serbian leader pointed out.
He also noted that despite the great amount of money that had been poured into orchestrating the protests, the effort to destabilize the situation in the country ended in failure. "No matter what they organized or how much they paid - it cost them a lot, actually, - everything is now over. I wish to inform them: Serbia has won, and I look forward to further cooperating with Russia," Vucic concluded.
Earlier, Lavrov said Russia hoped that Western countries would refrain from staging any color revolutions in Serbia. He said Moscow was monitoring the developments in the republic and was "interested that the unrest would simmer down, just as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had said, based on the constitution and laws of this friendly state."
"We call on the protesters to strictly adhere to Serbian law and note the government’s readiness for dialogue," Lavrov noted. "Dialogue is the key path to resolving any issues," he stressed.
Situation in Serbia
According to Serbia’s Interior Ministry, about 36,000 people participated in an unauthorized opposition protest rally on June 28. During clashes with the protesters, law enforcement officers had to use crowd-control measures to push them out of central streets. As a result of disturbances in Belgrade, 48 police officers were injured, and 77 individuals were detained, including one minor.
On Sunday, commenting on the Saturday riots, Vucic declared victory over the demonstrators, saying, "Serbia has won because Serbia cannot be defeated by violence." Vucic made it clear that he would not go easy on any detainees, emphasizing that the protesters had issued "direct calls for civil clashes and attacks on police."
However, mass protests in Serbia continued. Overnight into June 30, the rioters blocked key transportation hubs in Belgrade and other cities, erected barricades and tents, demanding the release of those detained and that new elections be held and the tent camp of Vucic’s supporters near the parliament building be dismantled.