Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Tuesday he will not flee the country like ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, in response to the protests that continue to spread across his nation.
The protests followed the collapse of a rail station roof in Novi Sad on Nov. 1, which killed 15 people.
Vučić also claimed that foreign intelligence services are attempting to overthrow him.
Darko Vojinovic/AP
Why Have Critics Compared Vučić to Assad?
Critics have likened Vučić to Assad and other authoritarian leaders, suggesting he could face a similar fate if public pressure forces him to relinquish power.
Vučić, however, dismissed these comparisons in a video posted on Instagram, saying, “If they think I’m Assad, and that I’ll run away somewhere, I will not.”
Vučić said, “I will fight for Serbia and serve only my Serbian people and all other citizens of Serbia. I will never serve foreigners, those who seek to defeat, humiliate, and destroy Serbia.”
Protests Triggered by Deadly Collapse
Protesters in Novi Sad, Belgrade, and other cities have attributed the rail station disaster to corruption and shoddy construction tied to Chinese state companies involved in Serbia’s infrastructure projects.
The tragedy has since become a symbol of broader dissatisfaction with Vučić’s increasingly autocratic governance.
In his video message, Vučić said that the protests are being funded by Western sources as part of a broader campaign to destabilize Serbia.
He accused foreign powers of using “hybrid tactics” to undermine his government and pledged to reveal evidence of these efforts in the coming weeks.
“I will expose in full detail how much money was paid over the last four years to destroy Serbia and make it a vassal state,” Vučić said. “They want Serbia to stop making its own decisions and instead serve foreign interests.”
In November, fistfights broke out in the Serbian Parliament while tensions flared between ruling party and opposition lawmakers over the disaster.
Balancing East and West
Serbia has long sought to maintain a balance between its aspirations for European Union membership and close ties with Russia and China.
Vučić has claimed political neutrality and has said he will not join Western sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
The government’s deepening ties with authoritarian states have raised alarms among critics, who view the growing influence of Russia and China as undermining Serbia’s democratic institutions and EU ambitions.
Serbia’s Parliament has begun debating a bill that would create a registry of “foreign agents.”
Modeled after Russia’s restrictive legislation, the proposed law would target organizations and individuals receiving more than 50 percent of their funding from foreign sources.
Critics warn it could stigmatize civil society groups and curtail freedom of expression.
The move is widely seen as a potential setback for Serbia’s EU candidacy.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
