Vidovdan is a significant date in Serbian national and religious tradition. It commemorates the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition of Balkan forces led by Serbian Prince Lazar. While rooted in historical events, it is at times coopted to promote nationalistic politics.
The students in blockade announced their protest on social media, writing “The city is crowded these days? It will only become more so. Everyone is invited to Belgrade on June 28. See you on Vidovdan.”
Although there is still little official information about the protest, the celebration of Vidovdan has shaken the authorities and their supporters. Symbolically, they are being reminded of the famous question from the poem “The Fall of the Serbian Empire”: “Tsar Lazar, noble lineage, to which empire will you pledge yourself? Do you favor the heavenly empire? Or do you favor the earthly empire?”
The government is organizing a gathering – and a book promotion?
The Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Demo Beriša, told the state-affiliated outlet Tanjug that on June 28 an event will be held where the “Movement for the People and the State” will be presented. Their gathering will not be anywhere near Slavija Square, where the protesting students plan to gather.
Beriša also said that the state will not allow any clashes between participants of the two gatherings on June 28, emphasizing that they are skilled enough to avoid such an occurrence.
According to Tanjug, on June 28 the “Movement for the People and the State” will be promoted, and 9,385 citizens who have joined the movement so far voted for this name.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has boasted that by June 28 he will have written a global bestseller titled “How I Defeated the Color Revolution.”
“Ćacilend” Predictions
After the students blockading universities announced their protest on Vidovdan, a press conference was held in Pioneers’ Park where young men who are part of the government-backed group, “students who want to study” spoke. They accused the students in blockade of preparing violence for that day, according to the media outlet N1.
Vladimir Balać, a student at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, said at the press conference that in a document allegedly written by the students in blockade there is a call for all “residents of Ćacilend who do not wish to peacefully stand under one, people’s flag with them by 9 p.m. on June 28 should withdraw from Pioneers’ Park and from their encampment outside of Serbia’s National Assembly.”
N1 reports that Balać said “Everyone should understand – this is a call to violence, a call to kill us if we do not leave the public space where we are staying simply because we were expelled from faculties, in violation of the law and the Constitution of Serbia.”
So far, there is no confirmation of the authenticity of the documents referred to by the “students who want to study,” nor is this the first time that unverified information allegedly from students blockading universities has been disseminated from Pioneers’ Park.
A.G.A., A.M.
