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Russian President Vladimir Putin was visiting on Thursday 17 January in Belgrade. The opportunity for his host, Aleksandar Vucic, challenged by a wave of demonstrations, to achieve a show of force.
With our correspondent in Belgrade, Jean-Arnault Derens
It was a little past 6pm on Thursday in Belgrade when Vladimir Putin went to the Basilica of St. Sava to hand over the medal of the order of St. Alexander Nevsky, high Russian state decoration, to his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic. How many were in the streets of Belgrade to cheer the Russian president? At least 100,000, say the media close to the regime. The figure is difficult to verify, but a compact crowd has been wandering the streets of the Serbian capital all afternoon.
Belgrade had gone to great lengths to guarantee Vladimir Putin a triumphal welcome. Hundreds of buses had been chartered from every city in the country, and officials were warmly "invited" to greet the Russian president. Some schools were even closed, teachers having been "mobilized" for the occasion. Although silence is the rule against these pressures, in several cities, officials complained publicly, revealing the official orders of mobilization they received.
Be that as it may, Aleksandar Vucic has succeeded in getting more people into the streets than the processions that have been marching for more than a month in all the cities of the country to denounce his regime. in addition authoritarian.