The gold medal went to the president: 10 biggest lies of Vucic in 2022

The medal for the biggest lie in 2022 went to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. Just like in 2021. His statement that he never promised to publish the missing two minutes of the footage of the accident near Doljevac in which Stanika Gligorijevic was killed, may be the biggest, but not the only, untruth uttered. There are a lot of them, and we single out the top ten…

Since 2016, the “Istinomer” has chosen the lie of the year. This time, Aleksandar Vucic won this competition by declaring that he did not promise to publish the video from the Doljevac toll plaza.

That he was not telling the truth is easily proven.

In August 2019, the president said on this occasion:

“The video is terrible, and since I see that you are expressing doubt, I will beg, as the president of the republic, to ask the competent state authorities to show it to you and to see what kind of lies you have been using all the previous months. I will do it”.

Then three years later, he says:

“I did not promise the citizens of Serbia, I told those who are interested and who have the right to do so, they can gain insight…”.

Untruth at the level of the one from 2021, when Vucic also won the title of “Istinomer”. Then, in the “Cirilica” show, he said:

“I don’t often make guest appearances on television, I mostly answer journalists’ questions and I always want to take advantage of this kind of opportunity on your television.”

Subsequently, “Istinomer” counted that in the course of 2020 alone, Vucic was a guest of television shows 37 times, not including paid slots in the pre-election campaign or multi-minute statements.

I am stepping down from the head of SNS

On the list of untruths uttered by the President of Serbia this year, there would certainly be new announcements about his withdrawal from the leadership of the SNS. It is important to emphasize that Vucic has been making these announcements since 2017, and that so far he has announced and postponed it nearly 20 times.

During 2022, he first spoke about it at the ceremonial academy of progressives, when they celebrated their 13th anniversary. Then he said that he was here until the election, and then it was time for some young people.

And then in an interview for Politika, he stated that he will be there during the election of the new government, after which he will step down as the head of the party.

He said the same to SSP leader Dragan Djilas, during consultations on the formation of the government.

The cleanest campaign in the history of Serbia

At the press conference at the end of election day on April 3, Aleksandar Vucic also referred to the election campaign, commenting that he is very happy and proud:

“…And I’m trying to hide my tears of joy because there’s no point, I’m too old to whimper in front of you. Because as I said, few have succeeded. And I also want to thank my family who endured everything. And I want to thank all the wonderful people who supported us, a lot of love. And let me say that I am proud of our campaign, which was the cleanest and most beautiful in the history of Serbia. Because we didn’t slander anyone,” said Vucic, thus winning second place on the “Istinomer” list.

In the period from October 2021 to February 2022, according to the findings of the Observation Mission CRTA, “unlike earlier pre-election periods, and in the circumstances of the parliament without opposition, the institutions of the state were strongly involved in the conduct of the campaign before the campaign until the moment of calling the election”.

Government in May, June, August, October…

We had a similar situation during the formation of the Government of Serbia, after the elections held in April. Vucic first announced that consultations on the formation of a new government will begin in the second half of May or early June. Then he moved the deadline to July. When he revealed that Ana Brnabic will be the mandate holder again, he said that the new government will be formed in about twenty days, which should mean mid-August.

And so several more times.

The new Government of Serbia was formed only on October 26.

Citizens will decide on Rio Tinto in a referendum

The Rio Tinto project has reportedly been suspended, following protests and roadblocks due to the Law on Expropriation and the Law on Referendum and People’s Initiative. However, every now and then the president of Serbia says that yielding to the pressures of citizens is his biggest mistake, and that we should not have given up on lithium mining and that we would be swimming in billions by now. In the meantime, information is coming from Rio Tinto that they are not giving up on this project.

In this context, we should also recall Vucic’s promise from January 2022, when the president said that the citizens would decide on lithium mining.

“The people will decide on that. We also said that we will not make any essential and strategic decisions without asking the people. Not because we are hiding behind anyone, but because I believe that whatever you do and whatever decision you make, someone could always say that you made it against the interests of the people. I want people to be familiar with everything, to get all the information and to make their own decisions,” said Vucic at the time.

Prices in Germany

While the prices of basic foodstuffs in Serbia went wild, the president consoled us, convincing us that “we are flowing with honey and milk”, while Europe is freezing and grabbing from half-empty shelves. Especially Germany.

While guesting on Pink TV in November, Vucic took out a notebook with written prices and recited:

“The price of a liter of oil in Germany is between 4.33 and 5.72 euros. In our country, between 1.8 and 1.87 euros – three times less,” said Vucic and added that bread in Germany is up to five times more expensive, and that prices are significantly higher when it comes to salt, flour, and sugar.

Social networks were subsequently lit up by photos sent by our citizens from German supermarkets, but also from those throughout Europe, where the shelves are full and the prices are significantly lower than in Serbia.

The most difficult period since 1944 is coming.

After one of the meetings with Patriarch Porfiri, the President of Serbia said that Serbia is in a much more difficult situation than it seems, that “huge and hail-bearing clouds are hanging over our country”, and that after summer comes perhaps the most difficult period since 1944 to today. He asked the patriarch for help from the SPC so that the citizens understand the position in which the country is.

To recall, 1944, which Vucic refers to, is the year in which citizens had restrictions on the supply of basic foodstuffs, shortages, inflation, the state taking over control of consumption, and thus the appearance of smuggling and queues in front of stores.

No president was in Jasenovac

In July, President Vucic was forbidden to visit Jasenovac. On that occasion, another falsehood was uttered.

“No one has ever been to Jasenovac as a Serbian president in the mandate of his presidency. I want to go during my mandate to show respect for the Serbian victims. We will never forget the victims who were killed in a monstrous manner. I want to go lay a flower and nothing more,” said Vucic at the time.

The former president of Serbia, Boris Tadic, immediately denied it and reminded that in 2010 was at the commemoration in Jasenovac, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the breakout of the camp inmates. On that occasion, he said that he was honored to have the opportunity to pay tribute to the victims of a crime that no one should ever forget, for the first time as the president of Serbia.

The first to ask KFOR to return the Serbian army to Kosovo

The President of Serbia also boasted that he was the first to send KFOR a request for the return of the Serbian army and police to Kosovo.

“We have agreed on a text that we will send to the KFOR commander, with which we will request the return of our security forces to Kosovo,” Vucic announced and added:

“UN Security Council Resolution 1244 confirmed that an agreed number of Serbian military and police personnel will be allowed to return to Kosovo to perform their functions, as listed in Annex 2. To date, there have been no discussions with KFOR about the return of the army and police of the Republic of Serbia “, said Vucic, reading part of the agreed text of the request.

However, this request was made in February 2003 by the Prime Minister of Serbia, Zoran Djindjic, sending a letter to the then NATO Commander for Southeast Europe, Admiral Gregory Johnson, requesting the return of Serbian forces to Kosovo.

Djindjic expressed concern about the possibility that UNMIK entrusts some security tasks to the local authorities of the Kosovo Albanians, noting that “such a move would affect the decision on the final status of the province”.

“Security Council Resolution 1244 envisages the role of Serbia and Yugoslavia in the transitional period, by ordering international organizations to create conditions for the return of Yugoslav army and police contingents. Therefore, I am asking you, in accordance with the mandate you have, to ensure the conditions for the immediate fulfillment of the position from Resolution 1244 on the return of up to a thousand members of the security of the home country,” wrote Djindjic at the time.

Only the three of us know about the site

Recently, the president announced the newly discovered mineral treasure.

“We have both calcite and that calcium carbonate. That calcite is the purest in our country. It is located somewhere from Gadza’s han and there, and the gold deposit is in another place. “Only three of us know the exact location,” said Vucic.

However, the calcite reserves he spoke about to the residents of the Gadzin Han municipality near Nis have been known for decades. For the last 30 years, from time to time one of the municipal managers would talk about opening a mine of that mineral on Suva planina, in the immediate vicinity of the village of Celija.