{"id":366414,"date":"2024-06-03T15:12:38","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T13:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/06\/03\/serbia-elezioni-bis-belgrado-vucic\/"},"modified":"2024-06-25T13:32:29","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T11:32:29","slug":"belgrade-serbias-ruling-party-won-repeat-vote-amid-violence-and-ultranationalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/06\/03\/belgrade-serbias-ruling-party-won-repeat-vote-amid-violence-and-ultranationalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgrade, Serbia’s ruling party won repeat vote amid violence and ultranationalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 This time, it is a triumph for the ruling party in Serbia, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), closely controlled by the President of the Republic, Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/strong>. After a wave of protests and objections from the international community over several critical issues that arose in the conduct of December 17, 2023, legislative and local elections,\u00a0 the capital Belgrade was back to the ballot yesterday (June 2)<\/strong> for the new composition of the City Council. However, from the overwhelming victory of the party that has been in power for 12 years nationwide (and 11 in the capital), new possible irregularities and violence still emerged, as well as a now exacerbated nationalist rhetoric.<\/p>\n

\"Serbia<\/a>
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 (credits: Elvis Barukcic \/ Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“We deplore the threats and attacks suffered by journalists while reporting on the June 2<\/strong> elections,” is the complaint<\/a> of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on what happened yesterday in Belgrade: “Journalists have a crucial role in covering the elections, in informing the public about the candidates, their platforms, and ongoing developments.” The OSCE, which had already denounced a whole series of weaknesses<\/a> in the conduct of the last round of voting at the national and local levels, continues to urge “political leaders, public officials, and authorities to unequivocally condemn and promptly investigate all cases of violence and threats against journalists.”<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, the Serbian Progressive Party, according to the final results<\/a> of the vote count, won 64 out of 110 seats on the Belgrade City Council<\/strong>, and now former water polo player Aleksandar \u0160api\u0107 is poised to become mayor<\/strong>. Unlike in the December elections, the opposition ran divided, with some movements deciding to boycott the vote\u2014voter turnout stood at 46 per cent\u2014while others sided either with candidate Savo Manojlovi\u0107 <\/strong>(for the coalition “I am Belgrade too”) or with Dobrica Veselinovi\u0107 <\/strong>(for “Let’s Choose Belgrade”). Also pushing Vu\u010di\u0107’s party to the polls was the flurry of ultranationalist rhetoric unleashed in the country after the vote at the United Nations General Assembly<\/a> about the establishment of the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the Srebrenica Genocide<\/strong>, which the Serbian President himself leveraged to compact the ruling party’s voter base.<\/p>\n