Vucic Promises 6 Billion Dinars for Duchenne in Novi Sad
At the Novi Sad rally, Vucic also announced state-funded NIPT tests and deadlines for roads and health centers. Crowd estimates range from 16,500 to 110,000.
Aleksandar Vucic, who heads the “Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia” list, promised on Friday evening at Freedom Square in Novi Sad that the state will set aside six billion dinars to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The rally took place nine days before the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for October 25, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico addressed the crowd before Vucic. We described the logistics of the rally, from tractors and six trains to the police presence, in our piece “SNS rally in Novi Sad: tractors, six trains and police”. This article covers what was said from the stage.
What did Vucic promise for rare diseases?
The most concrete pledge concerns Duchenne muscular dystrophy. According to Tanjug, Vucic said:
“The therapies are far too expensive. Enormous sums of money are needed for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy. I want to tell people who have children, and those whose loved ones suffer from this disease, that we will decide right away, during this year, to invest six billion, which is over 50 million euros, to treat these children and everyone affected by this disease and other rare diseases.”
The conversion into euros came from Vucic himself, not from the news agency. He added that the state will also pay for NIPT tests for pregnant women, so citizens will not have to buy them on their own. “This is additional support for our mothers, for women who want to have children,” he said.
What are the deadlines for roads and health facilities?
On health care, Vucic set a three-year deadline. “I want to promise here in Novi Sad, in Vojvodina, in northern Serbia, that in every municipality over the next three years we will either completely build or renovate every hospital, every clinical center and every health center,” he said at the rally.
For roads, he listed three deadlines:
- the first section of the “Smile of Vojvodina” road, from Backi Breg through Sombor to Kljajicevo, will be finished by St. Vitus’ Day next year
- a section of the Fruska Gora Corridor, which links Novi Sad with Irig and Ruma, opens in six months
- the 19-kilometer Kuzmin - Sremska Raca road opens in two months
On the economy, Vucic said he brought 14 factories to Novi Sad and that 178,000 people now work in the city, compared with 138,000 14 years ago. That is his claim from the rally, and we found no independent verification of it in the sources we read. On schools, he was brief: “There will be no more politics in schools and universities.” On foreign policy, he said his opponents’ answer to every question is “nothing.”
He delivered his message to opponents in one longer statement:
“We will extend a hand to our opponents. We will not take revenge on them for these two years. We will always extend a hand, they are our sisters, our brothers, but first we will defeat them on Sunday, the 25th.”
On the train from Belgrade, in a conversation with Tanjug, he said he expected turnout above four million voters, or 63 to 64 percent. During a walk from Petrovaradin to the city center he remarked: “The election will be close, but I believe in victory in Novi Sad.” The list’s next rally was announced for Nis on October 21.
What did Robert Fico say?
Fico addressed the crowd in Serbian. According to Tanjug, he said Vucic defends Serbia’s sovereignty and does not allow anyone from abroad to run Serbia, however powerful that person may be. The crowd greeted him with chants of “Serbia - Slovakia” and “Kosovo is Serbia.” “Who said I wouldn’t come? Here I am!” Fico said. According to N1, he also said: “We will never let you down.” Milorad Dodik arrived at Freedom Square alongside Vucic.
How many people were at Freedom Square?
Here the sources diverge. According to official estimates from the Novi Sad Police Department, reported by Masina, 110,000 people attended. The Public Gatherings Archive, calculating from the area of the rally and density by zone, estimated about 16,500. Its photograph was taken at 6:23 p.m., and the rally began at 6 p.m., according to Tanjug. The two estimates differ by more than a factor of six, and neither has been independently verified in our sources.
How did the opposition and the SNS react?
After the rally, the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) issued a statement. According to it, a Masina reporter who tried to ask a question was “roughly shoved aside” at the rally, and an SNS supporter in the crowd lunged at Zarko Bogosavljevic, editor of the portal Razglas Njuz, hit his phone and cursed at him. ANEM also says plainclothes police officers pulled a contributor of the portal Pazovacke out of the crowd, removed him from the rally and searched his backpack.
On X, Marija Vasic wrote that the rally, which was meant to show political strength, showed the opposite: “powerlessness and fear.” SNS president Milos Vucevic replied to her on October 17:
“When they talk about ‘fear and powerlessness,’ they are really talking about themselves and their own political powerlessness.”
Vucevic added: “For them, order means fear, and a decent, united Serbia is a thorn in the side.”
The Student List’s final campaign rally is announced for October 22 at Slavija in Belgrade, and student columns are marching toward the capital.
