BELGRADE, Jun 6 Opposition protests in Serbia to overthrow President Aleksandar Vučić is being hired by the British intelligence services as mentors, said Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina President Milorad Dodik.
«The protests clearly indicate their goal, and this is the abuse of tragedies and massacres of young people (in Serbia on May 3 and 4-5 — ed.) in order to overthrow Aleksandar Vucic from power in the streets during demonstrations. I am sure and I repeat, that in Serbia, as we have in the Republika Srpska, the same mentors are employees of the British special services,» Dodik wrote on Twitter.
The Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced on Sunday that a 29-year-old man who attacked a US citizen during an opposition protest in the Serbian capital on Saturday was sentenced by a court to 15 days of arrest, and an American to a month in prison, because he did not register his stay in the country.
Last Saturday, the fifth mass procession and rally of opponents of the policy of the current Serbian authorities took place in Belgrade. The demonstrators marched from the Assembly (parliament) along the central streets of the city, outlining a «hoop» around the presidential administration for several blocks. There is no official data on the number of participants, opposition media report more than 10,000 people.
The organizers also reported the incident, according to them, far-right activists attacked a man who spoke English in front of the Assembly. The next protest will take place next Sunday 11 June.
On May 26, the capital of Serbia hosted the largest rally in support of President Vučić and the government amid rising protests in the square in front of the Assembly (parliament) of the republic. Despite heavy rain, 200,000 people gathered, according to pro-government media. As previously promised, Vučić the next day announced his resignation as leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, to which Defense Minister Milos Vučević was elected. The President announced that he would begin the formation of a broad supra-party movement of citizens from June 28 in the light of the crisis, «to save the country.»
The Serbian leader, amid mass protests, said in mid-May that there would be no violent change of power in Serbia, as in Kyiv in 2014. According to him, the secret services of the states of the East (in the Serbian language of the PRC, the Russian Federation and others — ed.) warned about attempts to organize and carry out a color revolution in Serbia. According to him, important decisions are expected for the leadership of the party and the country, early parliamentary elections are possible.
The opposition Democratic Party, the People's Party, the Freedom and Justice Party and a number of other opponents of the authorities gathered supporters and citizens through social networks on May 8 for a peaceful protest procession from parliament to the country's government building. The slogan of the action was «Serbia against violence», the organizers said during the procession that 50 thousand people took part in it, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia did not provide official estimates of the number of participants.
Vučić said at the time that the opposition was using citizens' emotions for political purposes in connection with two massacres in early May that killed 18 people. According to him, a maximum of nine thousand demonstrators came to the protest action on May 8. The protests were repeated on May 12 and May 19 with the closure of important transport arteries of Belgrade and the international highway. The next protest action took place on May 27.
The demonstrators' demands are the revocation of the broadcasting licenses of the Pink and Happy TV channels and the banning of programs that incite violence, aggression and immorality, especially reality shows, the resignation of the Minister of the Interior Bratislav Gašić and the head of the Security and Information Agency (BIA) Aleksandar Vulin, establishing government responsibility for the security situation in Serbia.