Can Vučić „control the damage“
Following the electoral debacle and the loss of power, Aleksandar Vučić is facing a major problem - how to get rid of evidence of large-scale theft and manipulation? Sources at E Television point out that certain groups of the Security Intelligence Agency operatives have refused orders to destroy compromising documents, suggesting that numerous schemes and abuses by the authorities in Belgrade may soon come to light. These could also include links and channels used to transfer illicit Russian money into Montenegro for the purchase of real estate along the Montenegrin coast, primarily in Luštica.
„You came to power through blockades, and you will leave it through blockades!“ shouted a certain Vukša Dragović, leader of the relatively obscure „Serbian Sovereigntists“, addressing a crowd of around 200 protesters in the Savski Venac district of Belgrade, most of them supporters of Aleksandar Vučić.
ARRESTS AS THE COUNTRY AWAITS A CHANGE OF POWER
A lot of shouting, but no political impact. Images from two nights ago show that, following a disastrous election defeat, Aleksandar Vučić is unable to mobilise members of his Serbian Progressive Party for action.
Fear is spreading through the ranks of the former ruling establishment as the first major arrests take place - from police officer Marko Kričak and the detention of Davor Macura, followed by the closure of his Alta Bank, to the arrest of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit commander Igor Žmirić and eight police officers accused of using excessive force...
Political analyst and journalist Nebojša Vučinić told ETV that the arrests are indeed a signal, but that they should not be given too much importance.
- I see these arrests in Serbia over the past few days as a form of damage control. If we look closely, only people whose guilt is beyond question are being arrested, while scandals that can no longer be concealed are being exposed. I believe this is how things will continue in the coming days. What we need to wait for is the judicial outcome of all these arrests. So far, our experience with arrests in Serbia has been much like the stories told by fishermen: catch them, kiss them - and let them go - says Vučinić.
HOW TO „BURN THE EVIDENCE“?
He emphasises that, to date, none of those arrested during the previous 14 years of the ruling establishment's tenure has been held accountable. However, he expects genuine results only once the Students' List takes power, following the constitution of Parliament and the formation of a new government.
This is precisely why Vučić is now facing a serious problem: how to eliminate evidence of large-scale theft, schemes and manipulation?
Sources from E Television in Belgrade say that Serbian Progressive Party officials will deliberately delay the constitution of Serbia's new Parliament in order to postpone the formation of the new government as well. The aim is to buy time to remove inconvenient and incriminating documents.
According to these sources, Vučić has asked SIA Director Vladimir Orlić and the head of the Military Intelligence Agency, General Vladimir Planić, to ensure the destruction of all data that could be used as evidence of the unlawful deployment of personnel from the civilian and military intelligence services, as well as the surveillance and recording of conversations involving leaders of the student movement, civil society activists and opposition leaders.
(UN)EXPECTED RESISTANCE WITHIN THE SIA
However, the operation is encountering strong resistance within the Security Intelligence Agency. SIA operatives who have not violated professional ethics have reportedly told their superiors that they will not allow everyone to be made a scapegoat and that they intend to expose the schemes of certain officials and groups loyal to Vučić's regime.
Their focus is on Marko Parezanović, who, as a man close to Vučić and the Russian military intelligence service GRU, maintained ties with numerous politicians and criminals across the Balkans, including in Montenegro.
Given that many SIA operatives have begun aligning themselves with the election victors from the „Students Are Winning electoral list, the cover-up operation, according to sources in Belgrade, is unlikely to succeed - potentially triggering a series of new scandals.
WHEN BIG BROTHER IS LISTENING
One scandal is already at the centre of public attention in Serbia. The Serbian weekly Radar has published documents confirming that the Security Intelligence Agency, under Orlić's leadership, had been wiretapping and surveilling its editor-in-chief, Vesna Mališić, as well as journalists Sandra Petrušić and Milan Radonjić, for months, on suspicion of espionage.
Radar also revealed that the High Court in Belgrade first authorised secret surveillance measures on June 12, 2026. Since these measures also included the recording of communications within the newsroom itself, the Security Intelligence Agency was effectively monitoring the communications of all editors and journalists at the publication.
The expectation now is that more revelations will follow.
WAITING FOR THE STORM
- There are so many scandals, ranging from the purchase of New Year's decorations for Belgrade and the rearrangement of paving stones in Republic Square, to the latest affairs involving the construction of the high-speed railway to Hungary, including the collapse of the canopy in Novi Sad, as well as public procurement contracts for motorways, into which enormous sums of money have been poured for motorways across flat terrain - Vučinić observes.
While Serbia is still waiting for the storm to break, some in Montenegro are increasingly concerned that numerous connections and covert money flows may now be exposed.
Sources from Montenegro's security sector told E Television that there is considerable anxiety in Luštica and the wider Herceg Novi region following the arrest of Alta Bank owner Davor Macura.
There are fears that the real owners of a number of properties in Luštica could be exposed, along with the routes taken by Russian capital that flowed into Montenegro through Serbia - a country that has not imposed sanctions on Russia, and subsequently into European Union member states.