Serbia's president apologizes for calling state TV reporter an 'imbecile' over coverage of protests

Serbia’s populist president apologized Monday for calling a reporter with the state TV broadcaster an “imbecile” after her report from a massive anti-government protest over the weekend.

University students in the Balkan country that has been ruled by a right-wing, pro-Russia government for over a decade have been holding nationwide protests since the fatal train station canopy collapse in November that killed 15 people. Critics blame government corruption for the collapse.

The near-daily protests regularly draw tens of thousands of people and have rattled President Aleksandar Vucic’s grip on power — including control of the state RTS television as well as numerous pro-government outlets.

However, the state broadcaster recently started reporting from the protests, triggering criticism from Vucic and other government officials. Protesters at the latest rally on Saturday in the central city of Nis vowed to pursue a free nation of justice and rule of law.

The protesting students said their next big rally will be March 15 in the capital, Belgrade. Vucic announced “a counter-revolution” rally of his supporters there but didn’t name a date.

In his statement Monday, Vucic said that as president, “I have no right to call anyone an imbecile and I apologize.” He questioned the professionalism and objectivity of RTS reporters, calling them ”a disgrace to their profession" and asserting they are political activists instead.

The state TV broadcaster denounced Vucic for insulting their reporter, saying in a statement that “no holder of public office, regardless of which political option he belongs to, has the right to speak about our colleagues in such an insulting way.”

The president also claimed he is the victim of an “unconstitutional” attempt orchestrated by Western spy agencies to unseat or even kill him, and called the recent months of blockades of roads, railways and institutions in Serbia illegal.

He called the protests' aims “fabricated, essentially non-existent demands” by a minority of people in the country.