Vucic Rebrands Party Before Oct. 25 Vote, Defending Mladic to Stoke Nationalism
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 22
Vucic Rebrands Party Before Oct. 25 Vote, Defending Mladic to Stoke Nationalism
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 22
Summary
Sunday’s Oct. 25 general election has pushed Aleksandar Vucic’s camp to center its campaign on Serbian identity, with his rebranded list accusing rivals of smearing Ratko Mladic.
Mladic, who died in August, was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, but Vucic’s allies are treating attacks on him as attacks on Serbs themselves.
Vucic, Serbia’s dominant political figure since 2012, stepped down as president last month to lead the Serbian Progressive Party slate, now renamed “Aleksandar Vucic — United Serbia.”
Mladic’s September burial in Belgrade with military honors underscored how wartime narratives still shape Serbian politics, with ethnic loyalty often outweighing acknowledgment of past crimes.