Description: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in his interview for Pink TV stated that certain foreign powers have invested more than $3 billion in attempts to overthrow him in the past 10 years. He used the opportunity to inform the public that the current protests in Serbia had been instigated with ulterior motives to topple his government and undermine the Serbian nation and way of living. As an example, he cited the Trag Foundation, a UK charity that received more than $28.8 million in foreign funding and added that resignations from Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesic have been also forced through influence bought from foreign powers. President Vucic associated the influence with Western countries in general and additionally mentioned regional adversaries such as Croatia and Albania.
Impact: Serbia currently is experiencing civil unrest from a larger scope which forced the resignations from top government officials. President Vucic’s statements could only further incentivize the public to enlarge protests and spread the civil unrest on a larger scale which could eventually cause a severe political crisis in the country. The Serbian President hasn’t supported his claims with concrete evidence which indicated on potential speculation in order to protect his presidency and political career. On the other hand, indications have existed in the past that regional and global powers such as Russia, the US, and larger EU countries influenced inner political fluctuations in order to forward their own state interests in the country. Considering the fact that Serbia isn’t part of the EU, the civil unrest could lead to a widened political crisis in the country which could influence regional stability.