Aleksandar Vu, the former president of Serbia and candidate for prime minister, accused Croatian Prime Minister Andre Pl of seeking to topple the government in Belgrade. He placed the same context on the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurt, the former Montenegrin president, Milo Đukanović, and Rado Zvi, whom Serbian authorities link to the Kva$ criminal clan, as well as Ilija Srdanović, the first candidate of the Student List.
Vu said that his list would "defeat all together" in the election. "Albin Kurt wants to change the government in Serbia. Pl will. Đukanović and Zvi will," he said, adding: "All those who hate Serbia have gathered, who want to tear Serbia apart, to disperse Serbia." The same claims were made earlier in the day in Šimanovci, where he stated: "They are supported by Albin Kurt, Nenad Rašić and Rada Trajković," "Pl is supporting them publicly, the Croatian prime minister" and "Milo Đukanović and Radoje Zvi are supporting them."
Vu did not specify which of Pl's statements or moves he was referring to. Pl had rejected Vu's accusations in March that Croatia or Croatian services were involved in attempts to overthrow the government in Serbia. "We have no interest as a state in dealing with Serbia's internal affairs, and even less to be some puppet master pulling the strings and organizing protests," Pl said at the time.
Vu's speech today followed Ilija Srdanović's interview with the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti. Srdanović said that the greatest benefit from the departure of Vu from power would be the citizens of Serbia, but that the change for the better would be felt throughout the region. He rejected the claims of media close to Vu that he was linked to Milo Đukanović and the former head of the Montenegrin judiciary, Vesna Medenica. "I have not had the opportunity to meet either Mrs. Vesna Medenica or Mr. Milo Đukanović," said Srdanović. Vu interpreted this statement today as proof that a part of the political and public actors in the region wants his defeat.
Vu is no longer the president of Serbia. He resigned on 27 September, as he said, so that he could participate in the early parliamentary elections as an ordinary citizen. The powers of the president were temporarily taken over by the president of the National Assembly, Ana Brnabić. Vu is first on the list of "Vu - United Serbia" for the early parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 October. The main competitor to this list is the Student List, which emerged from the student protests that began after the collapse of the canopy on the railway station in Novi Sad and grew into a wider movement against corruption and the way the state is managed.
Vu said at the pre-election rally in Sremska Mitrovica that all those who wanted to weaken the country had united and stressed that the people would defeat them in the upcoming elections. In his speech, he sharply attacked political opponents and accused the opposition of serving foreign interests that were seeking to undermine Serbia politically and economically. He particularly focused on regional leaders, stating that they were directly seeking to topple the government in Belgrade.
"They have been trying this for all these years, but they have not succeeded thanks to your strength. Now they have found a Trojan horse. We will fight in the elections and we will defeat them all together. I and Đukanović and Pl and (the Montenegrin journalist and activist) Nikola Srdanović and all of them together," said Vu. He also accused the former authorities in Belgrade of having watched the decline of the country from 2000 to 2008, the separation of Montenegro and the declaration of independence of Kosovo. In his view, the moves made at the time were part of a pre-arranged plan to destroy the state. He said that he was not afraid of pressure and that he would win the election with his supporters.
