Serbian leader says West spent billions to overthrow him

Russia Today

11-02-2025

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has accused Western powers of trying to orchestrate his overthrow. In an interview on Pink TV broadcast on Monday, Vucic said
'foreign powers'
have spent around €3 billion ($3.1 billion) over the past decade trying to oust him from power.
Vucic's remarks follow weeks of student-led anti-government protests over alleged corruption and negligence. The protests were initially triggered by the deadly collapse of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station last November following extensive renovations.
The incident, which claimed 15 lives, led to public outrage throughout the country. Vucic earlier blamed
'foreign instructors'
promoting Western, Croatian, and Albanian interests for the unrest, accusing them of attempting to launch a color revolution in Serbia.
In his latest interview, Vucic reiterated these claims, stating that foreign powers
'started to invest more and more in Serbia's destruction as soon as the country began to rapidly grow.'
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'I am fascinated by how much money was invested in my overthrow. These foreign countries, they have invested so much money in the last 10 years… when I started counting, it was already €3 billion,'
Vucic said. He cited the Trag Foundation, a UK charity that promotes social change in Serbia, as an example of a foreign-funded NGO linked to the protest movement, claiming that the agency has received €28 million ($28.85 million) from foreign powers.
According to Vucic, there are three objectives behind the foreign involvement in Serbia's domestic affairs, including the
'destruction of Serbia's libertarian policy'
and undermining the country's standing in the Balkans.
'The third, which is the most important, is that they want to play us like a puppet show so that their word is the only one that is obeyed,'
Vucic claimed.
'And they really don't care about the people here, whom they took out to the streets for bloodshed. They really don't care as they invested huge money,'
he said, adding that attempts to oust him have failed and will continue to do so.
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According to the president, the unrest is already waning as
'all the students' demands have been met'
by the state, including the publication of documents related to the tragedy at Novi Sad, pardons for activists arrested at rallies, criminal proceedings against people accused of attacking demonstrators, and a 20% increase in funding for universities.
The protests have already led to the resignation of several high-ranking officials, including Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesic and Prime Minister Milos Vucevic. Some analysts say that meeting the protesters' demands might not be enough to end the rallies, with calls now for deeper, systemic changes in the government.