Serbia’s president apologizes for calling state TV reporter an ‘imbecile’ over coverage of protests
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2025 (598 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s populist president apologized Monday for calling a reporter with the state TV broadcaster an “imbecile” after her report from a massive anti-government protest over the weekend.
University students in the Balkan country that has been ruled by a right-wing, pro-Russia government for over a decade have been holding nationwide protests since the fatal train station canopy collapse in November that killed 15 people. Critics blame government corruption for the collapse.
The near-daily protests regularly draw tens of thousands of people and have rattled President Aleksandar Vucic’s grip on power — including control of the state RTS television as well as numerous pro-government outlets.
However, the state broadcaster recently started reporting from the protests, triggering criticism from Vucic and other government officials. Protesters at the latest rally on Saturday in the central city of Nis vowed to pursue a free nation of justice and rule of law.
The protesting students said their next big rally will be March 15 in the capital, Belgrade. Vucic announced “a counter-revolution” rally of his supporters there but didn’t name a date.
In his statement Monday, Vucic said that as president, “I have no right to call anyone an imbecile and I apologize.” He questioned the professionalism and objectivity of RTS reporters, calling them ”a disgrace to their profession” and asserting they are political activists instead.
The state TV broadcaster denounced Vucic for insulting their reporter, saying in a statement that “no holder of public office, regardless of which political option he belongs to, has the right to speak about our colleagues in such an insulting way.”
The president also claimed he is the victim of an “unconstitutional” attempt orchestrated by Western spy agencies to unseat or even kill him, and called the recent months of blockades of roads, railways and institutions in Serbia illegal.
He called the protests’ aims “fabricated, essentially non-existent demands” by a minority of people in the country.