Ministry: Foreign media disinformation about President Vucic is aimed at undermining reputation of Serbia

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia announced that it strongly condemns the dissemination of sensationalist and unfounded allegations in certain foreign media regarding the purported role of President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic during the wartime events in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, including fabricated narratives about so-called “human safaris” during the siege of Sarajevo.

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"The Ministry unequivocally rejects such fabrications, assessing them as yet another example of a coordinated spread of disinformation aimed at undermining the reputation of the Republic of Serbia and its highest institutions," a statement said.

The Ministry also recalled that no relevant domestic, international, or specialized judicial, investigative, or oversight institution has ever linked President Aleksandar Vucic to any form of military activity, war crimes, or actions which by their nature or consequences could be classified as violations of international law.

The statement added that it is particularly troubling that topics from the most tragic period of the Balkans' recent history are once again being instrumentalized for political manipulation, deliberately fueling tensions and contributing to destabilization in our region.

"The malicious construction of sensationalist narratives, including wholly unfounded claims about alleged “human safaris”, represents a grave affront to the dignity of victims and a blatant negation of the efforts of responsible actors in the region to build lasting trust, mutual respect, and an atmosphere of constructive cooperation," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia stated.

The Ministry also assessed that such coordinated media campaigns in certain countries intentionally create a distorted and hostile image of the Republic of Serbia, with the clear aim of diminishing its international standing, weakening the credibility of state institutions, and compromising responsible state leadership.

Such attempts, it is emphasized, undermine the atmosphere of trust in international relations and harm the efforts to foster a stable and predictable political climate in the region.

"The Republic of Serbia remains firmly committed to a policy of peace, stability, and constructive cooperation in the region and in the broader international environment. In this spirit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appeals to the media, political stakeholders, and all participants in the public sphere to refrain from sensationalist narratives and to demonstrate the highest degree of professional responsibility and respect for facts when reporting on sensitive historical issues," the statement said, and concluded:

"Responsibility toward the truth and toward the victims of conflict must take precedence over any political or media interest, as only such an approach preserves the dignity of victims and strengthens confidence in regional and international cooperation."

Earlier on Thursday, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said regarding the latest threats and insults directed at him that there is nothing left that those who do it have not made up in order to present him as inhuman.

Commenting on the accusations that he was allegedly involved in "sniper safari", Vucic said that he never held a sniper in his hands, and that he never killed or injured anyone, nor would he do anything of the kind.

"I never held a sniper in my hands in my life. I didn't even have the rifle you're talking about, because it's a camera tripod. Shame on you. And there's not a thing you have not invented, that you have not made up. There's no word you didn't utter to present me as a monster, as inhuman, as someone who not only has no emotions, but is a cold-blooded killer," Vucic told reporters after the opening of a regional business conference in Belgrade.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)