The weak protests forced the Serbian opposition to "save" energy. But for what exactly? There is no great pressure on Vucic's government.

Opposition parties contesting the regularity of elections in Serbia have suspended daily protests and have only warned of occasional larger rallies - after the Orthodox Christmas.

The holidays, as well as the relatively low participation in the protests, despite the serious accusations and hunger strikes, forced the opposition to retreat and try to conserve the energy of the citizens' discontent.

It remained unclear how the new rallies would be organized, but the leader of the Serbia Against Violence list, Miroslav Aleksic, said the opposition "will have an answer if the government tries to constitute the republican parliament and the one in Belgrade this month."

The authorities have left open the possibility of repeating the elections in Belgrade if there is a majority for this, while the republican and provincial elections are considered regular and error-free. Among the most important topics in the campaign was Kosovo.

President Aleksandar Vučić declares that "there will be no international investigation when it comes to the elections" and that "he doesn't care what foreign media and foreign governments say about this and that you can hang those Gonzalez and other miracles on him the cat by the tail".

This statement by Vucic is a clear allusion to the arrival of the former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez and the OSCE mission in Serbia, at the time when the regime of Slobodan Milosevic did not want to accept the results of the local elections of 1996, as currently in Serbia are being considered similar to the protests of the 90s.

Very weak road pressure

The weak support on the streets shows that the citizens are tired of the protests, the historian and former ambassador Milan St. emphasizes for DW. Protic. "The protests were not massive enough to put pressure on this regime. I think that the opposition is facing a difficult decision, whether to enter the system and accept the mandates, or to seek alternative pressure on the regime. I am afraid that the energy that appeared after those horrors of May (with two mass murders of young people) will not be reawakened", believes Protic.

When it comes to the legal fight through the institutions, it is difficult to expect any success: "It is a Sisyphean work, because the government does not think that the democratic rules were violated during and before the elections. It is clear that this regime is slipping into an open autocracy", notes Protiq. "The opposition under these conditions, even if it were better than the existing one, would have serious problems. The fight with democratic means against an undemocratic regime is futile," the interlocutor told DW.

Institutions are worthless

The protests could have intensified the political crisis we have, political consultant Dushan Lj told DW. Milenkovic, but adds that the crisis exists even without protests. "I think that the pressure of the second strongest group in Serbia, which won almost a million votes, is the only and biggest pressure that currently exists on the Vučić regime. I think that this pressure is serious and that it is a novelty in the political scene", emphasizes Milenkovic.

He does not put his hopes even in the institutions of Serbia and adds that "everyone is worried because of the political interest of the party in power". "Any decision that would hypothetically be taken in favor of the opposition will have its source in the political will of Aleksandar Vučić and not in the fact that any institution has performed its work properly", says Milenkovic. In a word, in these conditions, according to him, everything depends on the will of Vucic and then it can be presented as his release of good will.

Political pressure on Vucic

The opposition has already addressed the European institutions and demands that the EU not recognize the elections and launch an international investigation. The EU announced that it is awaiting the final report of the OSCE monitoring mission. At the moment, there is no indication of what this international engagement would look like. Milan St. Protic, on the other hand, is convinced that "all the irregularities that have been recorded will again bring increased pressure from the outside on Aleksandar Vucic, who does not have much room for maneuver", but the question is how he will do it and how the opposition itself will appear.

The opposition's tactics around key issues do not bring it support from outside. While without this support, changes will not happen in Serbia. Therefore, the impression was created that the regime is much more cooperative and useful than the opposition on these issues", emphasizes Protiç.

Milenkovic recalls that the authorities are already suggesting that the elections can be repeated in Belgrade, because apparently there is no proper majority for the establishment of institutions. But he wonders if only a foreign mission can improve the conditions for elections. "First, it would take a long time for foreigners to understand the ways in which elections are conducted here and how elections are stolen," Milenkovic emphasizes.

Two bad choices

Even the opposition is in a weak position due to the fact that the protests have been more or less unsuccessful. Therefore, it is not known what the next steps will be, says Milan St. Protic. "The first possibility is to enter the institutions, and the other possibility is not to enter. And both of these choices are bad. If you enter, people's expectations will fail, and if you don't enter, you will remain outside the system. The dilemma is: do you want to participate in political life at all costs, or do you want to fundamentally change Serbia", our interlocutor emphasizes.

The opposition demands new elections in Belgrade. But as far as the republican and regional elections are concerned, there is only a weak insistence that the elections be repeated at all levels. Dushan Milenkovic "does not see any indication that something will be done". "The behavior of the opposition even tells me that they are ready to accept republican mandates if they win the new elections in Belgrade", concludes Milenkovic./DW