Serbia boosts protection for Vučić amidst global leader threats

In response to the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin called on Sunday for increased security measures for President Aleksandar Vučić and his family. Vulin emphasized that the head of state "must prepare for a similar scenario," according to the Serbian daily "Danas."

Deputy Prime Minister Vulin said, "Under media pressure, politicians are too often forced to give up protection to become an easier target." He recalled that in recent weeks, there has been an assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and a plane crash involving Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Vulin noted, "all advocate for a different international order and peace in Ukraine."

- This cannot be a coincidence - Vulin added.

- Let President Vučić and all those who dare to fight for freedom be prepared. The attempt to kill former President Donald Trump is an expression of permissible and incited hatred; the same hatred that is freely expressed towards Vučić and Serbia - said the politician who is subject to US sanctions, among others, for close ties with the Kremlin.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić also assessed on Sunday that "the assassination attempt on Trump was a tragic consequence of a hate campaign and dehumanization, and something similar is currently happening in Serbia against President Vučić."

In the past, Serbian authorities have repeatedly reported planned attacks on President Vučić and accused the opposition of conducting a hate campaign and making threats against the head of state. Because of this, at the end of June, the country introduced a red level of terrorist threat after an attack on a police officer in front of the Israeli embassy in Belgrade.

The Serbian government described this attack as an act of terror, and the perpetrator was identified as a Serbian convert to Islam who maintained ties with Wahhabism - a fundamentalist religious-political doctrine of Islam.