The Prime Minister’s role is to guide and oversee the Government’s work in accordance with the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Serbian Constitution, not to act in ways that contradict these duties.
By making such a statement, the Prime Minister not only threatens Mila Pajić’s safety but also misuses his considerable power—one of the highest positions in the state meant to safeguard freedom of speech, the right to peaceful assembly, and human rights defenders.
Mila Pajić’s efforts contribute significantly to advancing human rights, regional cooperation, and reconciliation. She has consistently represented Serbia with responsibility and dignity, working to ensure the preservation of constitutional freedoms and empowering young people and the public to engage in democratic processes. Attacking Mila is not only an attack on her but on all those who hold differing opinions, sending a troubling message to young people that their safest option is silence.
The Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) Serbia condemns such confrontations with citizens, especially young people, from high state positions as unacceptable in a democratic society. This act represents a further erosion of Serbia’s institutions, a trend we have long opposed.
In the days in which we are witnessing unacceptable forms of intimidation, including the detention of young people who participate in protests and the heated atmosphere in our country, it is the duty of all representatives of the Republic of Serbia to have a high level of responsibility for what they say in public.
Dangerous qualifications that Prime Minister Vučević used in his statement such as “Serb haters” and “recruited stormtroopers” present a young girl as an “enemy of the state” while continuing the malicious and equally dangerous campaign against university professor Dink Gruhonjić from Novi Sad.
